B.wallThesis Zappa IncaRoads

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Wall, Ben Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Original Citation Wall, Ben (2011) Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Mas!ers !hesis, "ni#ersi!$ of %uddersfield This #ersion is a#aila&le a! h!!p'((eprin!s hud ac uk(1201)( The "ni#ersi!$ Reposi!or$ is a di*i!al collec!ion of !he research ou!pu! of !he "ni#ersi!$, a#aila&le on +pen ,ccess -op$ri*h! and Moral Ri*h!s for !he i!e.s on !his si!e are re!ained &$ !he indi#idual au!hor and(or o!her cop$ri*h! o/ners "sers .a$ access full i!e.s free of char*e0 copies of full !e1! i!e.s *enerall$ can &e reproduced, displa$ed or perfor.ed and *i#en !o !hird par!ies in an$ for.a! or .ediu. for personal research or s!ud$, educa!ional or no!-for-profi! purposes /i!hou! prior per.ission or char*e, pro#ided' The au!hors, !i!le and full &i&lio*raphic de!ails is credi!ed in an$ cop$0 , h$perlink and(or "R2 is included for !he ori*inal .e!ada!a pa*e0 and The con!en! is no! chan*ed in an$ /a$
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INCA ROADS - THE MUSICAL WORLDS OF FRANK ZAPPA
Benjamin Wall
MA by Research Awarded by The University of Hudderseld
Resubmission August 2011
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa
Benjamin Wall
Introduction
Zappas importance lies less in any obvious inuence on rock music than in the way in which his music embraces American popular culture while simultaneously maintaining a critical distance from it, and in the way in which his musical critique at the same time constitutes a political and social critique. He saw the music business as concerned with the manipulation of music and its consumers and dedicated to prot. His own material is always calculatedly secondhand, disposable and ephemeral; his approach to structuring it is critical, ironic and self-reective. The result has a richness of allusion, wealth of detail and a consistency of thought reminiscent of James Joyce.1
Describing what he did for a living, Zappa said, what I do is composition. I just happen to use material other than notes for the pieces.2 As a composer he is difcult to dene. He represents a dichotomy between the high art of classical music and the more accessible world of popular music. Zappa represents the civilizing of the barbarian/artist,3 by working in both and yet neither genre Zappa was attacking the entrenched critical and academic establishments whose members distinguished categorically between art and popular music.4 This thesis asks what the key inuences on Zappas compositional style were, taking Inca Roads5 as a case study, and trying to dene the focus of Zappas compositional style. It asks whether Zappa can be regarded as a composer in a western art music sense, or as an artist in the popular music sense. It does not explicitly investigate whether Zappa was a modernist or postmodernist, this thesis is too short for an in depth discussion of postmodernity. This would be a suitable subject for further work, however, the breakdown
Paddison, Max, "Zappa, Frank", Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, (Accessed 22 August 2010).
2 3 4
Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 139. Doerstuck, Robert L., Keyboard, The Zappa Legacy, April 1994.
Borders, James, Form and the Concept Album: Aspects of Modernism in Frank Zappas Early Releases, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 39, No. 1, (Winter, 2001), 118-160; 119.
5
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, Inca Roads, One Size Fits All, Rykodisc 10521 (1975). 1
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa of the boundary between pop and high art is a key element of postmodernity and is a key issue here. This thesis seeks to answer the above research questions, exploring the musical worlds of Frank Zappa, both popular and classical, how he was inuenced by them and how they manifest in his work up to and including the release of the song Inca Roads6 from One Size Fits All.7 Inca Roads has been chosen as it marks a key point in the development of Zappas career. It represents the rst time he fully combined his array of stylistic inuences into something musically adventurous yet commercially accessible. One Size Fits All was an album that excited Zappa and demonstrates a relentless pursuit of musical exploration. Zappa said of the period, I was in the studio for four months, ten to twelve hours a day, and by god did I want people to hear this thing.8 The question of whether Zappa was a composer or an artist needs addressing as the world in which he worked at a given time is key to understanding the effect of his satire and attempts to push the boundaries of a given genre. Subversion is stronger when working from within. Zappa had the facility to be regarded as one or the other depending on the style of music he was working In. As an artist who worked predominantly in the popular medium he had the ability to progress the limits of the genre more successfully, the image of an artist also allowed him to work in a variety of media formats, it also helped to maintain an accessible image which was commercially successful. However, If working formally as a composer, he could be taken more seriously critically yet he could risk alienating his populist fan base. The thesis begins with a discussion of Zappas work up to this point starting with an overview of Zappas early life and inuences. This is then followed by an examination of his musical approach over ve key periods of his output, these periods are dened by the bands he was working with at each time. These periods show Zappas compositional development, exploring different styles and approaches taken from an array of varying
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, Inca Roads, One Size Fits All, Rykodisc 10521 (1975).
7
8
ibid.
Courrier, Kevin, The Dangerous Kitchen: The Subversive World of Zappa, (London, 2002), 274. 2
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa inuences. Individual albums are drawn upon within these periods to illustrate his changing musical approach and show the catalysts that caused these broad changes in style. These different musical periods show how Zappa experimented with different musical styles in relative isolation, styles that were combined in composing Inca Roads. Following this section, is an exploration of how the individual members of his bands directly inuenced his compositions. These sections provide a contextual platform for the next section, an analysis of Inca Roads. In order to use this track as a case study, a detailed transcription of Inca Roads had to be undertaken and a full score produced [see appendix C] which can furthermore be referenced directly in the analysis. The process of transcription itself was vital to the analysis, as complex details emerged in the music that would not have been recognized without the aid of a score. No score of Inca Roads was available, indeed there are very few scores of Zappas music available, particularly in a full band score format. Those that are, for example Hot Rats and Apostrophe, are aimed at guitarists, providing only the guitar and vocal parts with occasional adaptations for guitar of key melodies played on other instruments such as saxophone or organ. It was vital in order to appreciate the intricate detail of Zappas compositional technique, to be able to relate different parts and sections of the music in detail. The lack of scores of Zappas music provided an additional reason to transcribe the track. The aim, aside from analysis, was to contribute to the limited musical resources available, particularly as the track is from an album highly regarded among fans,9 furthermore, the score will be submitted to the Zappa Family Trust for evaluation. The case study, through the use of a detailed study score, facilitates the examination of the conuence of inuences and musical development of his work as a composer. The musical background and individual skills of the musicians in his employ, the sociocultural climate and his own nancial situation, all inuenced his aesthetic decisions. Zappa adapted to his individual situation at the conception of each project. By refusing to pigeonhole his work as either popular or art music, Zappa maintained a critical distance from both musical worlds, and this position allowed him to direct his critique of music, society and culture.
A poll held by TMershi Duween, No. 7, June 1989, made One Size Fits All a runaway winner.
9
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa To conduct a thorough analysis of Inca Roads the song was transcribed from the original record to create a study score, the only exclusion in the score being the omission of the improvised guitar and keyboard solos as they differed in every recording and performance of the track. The transcription (see appendix C), was deemed necessary due to Zappas classical inuences and complex experimental processes. The musical detail in the composition is sufcient to warrant such a detailed score. The transcription process itself provided a clearer understanding of how each individual component of the track interacts with the rest. As Inca Roads is popular music, the analysis cannot be conducted by isolating the musical and cultural issues.
It has become abundantly clear that to treat popular music as simply another activity (something else that is popular, that people indulge in) and to restrict oneself to investigating its institutions and practices is not sufcient for, as music, it appears to hold such a qualitatively distinct place in our lives. It has become equally clear that to treat popular music as simply another genre (as simply another sort of music that people listen to) and to make use of the techniques developed for the study of the bourgeois music canon, is simply insufcient.10
The sociocultural context of this music is thus considered, particularly as a representation of, or reaction to, the culture in which it is entrenched. Zappas music is inuenced by many circumstances, often relating to the commercial or cultural. Zappa was a shrewd business person, he capitalised on the burgeoning counterculture scene of the 1960s, assimilating the requisite credentials to become part of the LA Freak scene and thus launch his career. He both used and abused the counterculture, attacking it from within before alienating it in the early 1970s with an integration of accessible elements, which disguised its more cerebral content. This progression and Zappas situation at the time of composition profoundly inuenced Inca Roads and therefore, is considered in the process of the analysis. The analysis itself is conducted under a number of headings designed to focus on specic elements of Zappas compositional process and inuence. The aim is to demonstrate that through the combination of different techniques and inuences, that Inca Roads transcends any specic inuence and represents the culmination of Zappas development up to that point, capturing the many facets of his style. The analysis focuses on a number
10
Moore, Allan F., Introduction, in Analyzing Popular Music ed. Moore, Allan F (Cambridge, 2003), 2. 4
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa of different areas, including the semantic meanings of the title Inca Roads; lyrical form; humour and self-referentiality; polyrhythms and rhythmic confusion; transformation; challenging virtuosity; similarity to progressive rock and classical inuence; improvisation; and structure. This is followed by a short analysis of the presentation of the album, the frame that packages the music, in particular the album art work that was intended to compliment and augment the meanings of the music. The various strands of this analysis are summarised before nally moving on to a section that aims to draw conclusions from the analysis of Inca Roads, and from the examination of Zappas career up to that point, in the process answering the research questions outlined already.
Those who refuse to reexamine the rules of art pursue successful careers in mass conformism by communicating, by means of the correct rules, the endemic desire for reality with objects and situations capable of gratifying it. 11
Zappas work challenged the rules in everything he touched, through subversion, parody, self-referentiality, pastiche and allegory, all hallmarks of postmodernity.12 He furthermore reexamined his own rules, pursuing success through a level of commercial conformity and media manipulation, whilst using this as a guise for subversive sociocultural satire. Frank Zappa Frank Zappa was born in 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland, moving to Northern California around the age of ten because of health concerns. The young Zappas musical beginnings were around the age of twelve when he became interested in the drums. It wasnt my idea to be a rock and roll drummer or anything like that, because rock and roll hadnt been invented yet. I was just interested in the sounds of things a person could beat on.13 Starting with orchestral percussion, by 1956 he was playing in a high school R&B band called The Ramblers.
11
Lyotard, Jean Francois, Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?, in Postmodernism: A Reader ed. Docherty, Thomas, (Hemel Hempstead, 1993), 41.
12
Sarup, Madan, An Introductory Guide to Poststructuralism and Postmodernism, (Hemel Hempstead, 1993), 132.
13
Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 29. 5
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa The rst album to capture the imagination of the young Zappa was The Complete Works of Edgard Varse, Volume 1,14 particularly because of the piece Ionisation.15 Zappa discovered Varse as a result of an article in Look magazine,16 contrasting his own reaction with that of the magazine, This album is nothing but drums - its dissonant and terrible. The worst music in the world. Ahh! Yes! Thats for me!17 . Varses music became one of Zappas most important inuences, adopting Varses spirit of experimentation. Varses music became something of an obsession for Zappa, all through high school I searched for information about Varse and his music.18 Zappa gives The Complete Works of Edgard Varse, Volume 1 19 special signicance by referring to it specically as The Album.
In order to listen to The Album, I had to stay in my room. I would sit there every night and play it two or three times and read the liner notes over and over. I didn't understand them at all. I didn't know what timbre was. I never heard of polyphony. I just liked the music because it sounded good to me. I would force anybody who came over to listen to it. 20
Zappas musical education was conducted mostly under his own tutelage, he devoured music and experimented by writing music of his own. I started writing so-called serious music, or non-rocknroll music about the time I was fourteen, and I didnt write anything that even resembled rocknroll or rhythm and blues till I was twenty.21 He was allowed to write music for his school orchestra and to conduct, a skill that would resurface with the recording of his debut album Freak Out!22. Guitarist and founding member of The Mothers Of Invention, Elliot Ingber recalls:
14
Edgard Varse, The Complete Works of Edgard Varse, Volume 1, Naxos 8554820 (1950).
15 16
ibid., Ionisation
Zappa, Frank, Edgard Varese: The Idol of My Youth, Stereo Review, (June, 1971). 61-62.
17 18 19
Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 31. ibid., 33-34.
Edgard Varse, The Complete Works of Edgard Varse, Volume 1, Naxos 8554820 (1950).
20
Zappa, Frank, Edgard Varse: The Idol of My Youth, Stereo Review, (June, 1971), 61-62.
21 22
Longfellow, Matthew, dir., Classic Albums: Over-Nite Sensation & Apostrophe (), (2007). The Mothers Of Invention, Freak Out!, Rykodisc 10501 (1967). 6

When were recording Freak Out there were all these rst call studio musicians, with some extra percussion. [It] comes time to record and Frank steps up onto a podium of all things, and he conducts these guys with the certainty of, you know he could really do it. I said, whered you learn all this stuff man, he said, oh, I went to the library. 23
The only formal training Zappa received were harmony classes from a jazz trumpeter, I dont think he enjoyed harmony very much either,24 remarked Zappa. Given Walter Pistons Harmony25 to study, Zappas response was to question the text, After you complete it youll sound like everybody else who used the same rules. So I learned all of the basic stuff and then chucked the rest of it.26 The early inuences of the young Frank Zappa show how he would go on to dene his later musical style. Whilst learning the necessary rules of classical music in order to progress, he had a predilection for rebellion. He absorbed music from both the popular and classical musical worlds and would later straddle the fence between them in his own music, using attributes from both to create something new. He would take structure, arrangements and technical detail from classical music, and combine them with instrumentation, commercial potential and cultural content from popular music. Inuenced by both musical worlds whilst belonging to neither allowed him to embrace American popular culture while simultaneously maintaining a critical distance from it.27 critique. As Zappa himself tells us,
Without deviation (from the norm), progress is not possible, in order for one to deviate successfully, one has to have at least a passing acquaintance with whatever norm, one expects to deviate from.28
This
approach is embedded within Zappas music at its core, a musical, political and social
23 24
Longfellow, Matthew, dir., Classic Albums: Over-Nite Sensation & Apostrophe (), (2007).
Morgenstern, Joe, Democracys Pitchman, Los Angeles Times Magazine, (October 30, 1988).
25 26
Piston, Walter, Harmony, (New York, 1941).
Morgenstern, Joe, Democracys Pitchman, Los Angeles Times Magazine, (October 30, 1988).
27
Paddison, Max, "Zappa, Frank." Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, (Accessed 22 August, 2010).
28
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa The sections that follow seek to illustrate how Zappas compositional style developed and changed between different groups of albums, he moved between the roles of composer and artist. These groups are dened by the band he was working with at each time, he moved from one band lineup to another depending on a number of external circumstances that inuenced these shifts. Here follows a chronological exploration of some of the most signicant albums within these periods, albums which help to dene the key elements of his developing and often drastically changing style, under the headings dened by the different bands he had backing him. The headings are as follows; The Mothers Of Invention, solo albums; Flo & Eddie; conned to a wheelchair; and DiscReet Records. There is also a brief discussion of the song Camarillo Brillo,29 the aim of which is to demonstrate a shift to accessible and commercial popular music. As discussed, this examination of key periods of Zappas output the provides context to the analysis of Inca Roads during the latter half of this thesis, showing the development of his compositional style. Whilst often disparate musically, these different musical periods were linked through his theory of conceptual continuity, which was designed to give a sense of unity across his wider body of work. A common theme across his music is, despite widely varying styles, that in every style he worked with, he undermined the normal rules of each style to push for something musically adventurous and provocative through subversion.
The Mothers Of Invention

Zappa clearly relished the conicting images he projected as rock musician and knowledgable observer or practitioner of art music. This posture allowed him to remain an outsider in both elds (rock musician who employed the language of art music; practitioner of art music who played rock) while capitalizing on the cultural hegemony of art music to create an ironic distance between himself and other rock musicians, and assert the superiority of his cultural sophistication and musicianship. 30
At eighteen Zappa became obsessed with R&B records and also began to learn to play the guitar. He and Don Van Vliet (later Captain Beefheart) would, for example, listen for hours on end to obscure hits by Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Guitar Slim, Johnny Guitar Watson etc.31 Using money earned through writing the score for budget Western Run
29
Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Camarillo Brillo, Over-Nite Sensation. Rykodisc 10518 (1973).
30
Grier, James, The Mothers of Invention and Uncle Meat: Alienation, Anachronism and a Double Variation, Acta Musicologica, Vol. 73, (2001), 77-95. 78.
31
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Home Slow,32 his rst paying project, Zappa bought a studio in Cucamonga, and named it Studio Z. This studio would act as a home base for experimentation, beginning a life of obsessive overdubbage - non-stop twelve hours a day,33 with the then-new, multitrack tape recording system. Whilst developing recording and producing skills that would heavily inuence his music for the rest of his career, Studio Z was also central in his joining barband The Soul Giants. Following Zappas suggestion that they play original material, the band became The Mothers, and later The Mothers Of Invention, the last two words of the band name being added at record company insistence to disguise the profane reference to motherfuckers. This is an early example of Zappas acceptance of some level of commercial manipulation, albeit based on the premise that being anti-commercial could sell records. The Mothers Of Inventions 1967 debut record Freak Out!, the rst ever double-album debut by any artist or band, was designed to inject a viral dose of intelligence, realism and antagonism into pop,34 expressing Zappas satirical perception of American popular culture. Zappas music drew upon his social and political awareness. This was evident in the music and lyrics of the album. For example Trouble Every Day35 details the Watts Riots of 1965, primary lyrical themes being racial violence, social injustice and sensationalist journalism. However, also present is an intentional manipulation of band image and the media for commercial gain.
Before a record deal was even a distant notion, Zappas analysis of the band was that, we didnt have long hair, we didnt have band uniforms and we were ugly as fuck. We were, in the Biblical sense of the word, UNEMPLOYABLE.36 Zappa set out to rectify this by exploiting the burgeoning counterculture scene emerging in Los Angeles, the freak phenomenon. He was interested in conscious counterculture, an extension of the beat bohemianism that has been eclipsed unduly by ower power.37 Freak Out! aimed to put
32 33 34 35 36 37
Brenner, Ted, dir., Zappa, Frank, comp., Run Home Slow, (1965). Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 43. Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Complete Guide to his Music, (London, 2005), 10. The Mothers Of Invention, Trouble Every Day, Freak Out!, Rykodisc 10501 (1967). Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 66. Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, (London, 1994), 33. 9
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa the movement on the map, Zappa preferring the freaks to the hippies whom he found conformist and stupid.38 To achieve this goal, The Mothers Of Invention were a carefully calculated, carefully packaged product, to merge, chameleon-like into the counterculture. Control over the bands image was vital and overt.
The appearance of a group is linked to the music the same way an album cover is linked to the record. It gives a clue to whats inside. And the better the packaging, the more the person who picked up that package will enjoy it.39
Zappas entrepreneurial inuences, targeting a niche in the market that straddled the gap between serious and popular music, included the creation of a Mothers mythology, a cast of eccentric characters for the audience to identify with and, most importantly, to buy into. A particular example of this is the creation of the dadaist concept Suzy Creamcheese40 a ctional character whose letters feature on album artwork.
The world was introduced to Suzy Creamcheese on the back cover. Her letter, written by Frank, was composed of sentences designed to attract the albums freak audience and repulse symbols of authority.41
Zappas exploitation of freak culture highlighted its existence to the wider world. The illusion that his music and image were anti-commercial is an example of Zappas calculated commercialism, predicated on the idea of how oppositional, non-conformist, freaky culture could attract attention and sell records.42 Even the presumptuous notion of naming the band The Mothers, or rather The Motherfuckers, at the time inferring that they were a spectacularly good group of musicians, appears a calculated marketing ploy. Years later Zappa would acknowledge this, we weren't that good musicians ... but by bar-band standards in the area, we were light-years ahead of our competition but in terms of real musicianship, I just suppose we were right down there in the swamp.43 Zappa would use this noncommercial, outsider image to his advantage for the rest of his career.
38 39
ibid.
Leigh, Nigel, interview with Frank Zappa for, BBC2: The Late Show, Utility Mufn Research Kitchen, LA, (March, 1993).
40 41
The Mothers Of Invention, Freak Out!, Rykodisc 10501 (1967).
Slaven, Neil, Electric Don Quioxte: The Denitive Story of Frank Zappa, (London, 1996), 61.
42 43
Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Complete Guide to his Music, (London, 2005), 9.
Leigh, Nigel, interview with Frank Zappa for, BBC2: The Late Show, Utility Mufn Research Kitchen, LA, (March, 1993). 10
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa In 1967, The Mothers six month residency 44 at the Garrick Theatre, New York, performing six days a week and two shows a night was crucial because it gave him a laboratory to work on not just the music itself but the notion of performance and interaction with the crowd.45 The concerts would often transcend the standard rock concert form, becoming more like artistic events, integrating musical satire, social commentary, and semirehearsed, play-acted pastiches, as Borders tells us, the groups appearances anticipated performance art.46 The improvised nature of the performances, based on key building blocks, certain items, the noises, the songs, the cues for the songs and noises,47 was controlled by hand signals. This was a technique Zappa would continue to use with his live bands throughout his career to transform a track spontaneously and keep each concert totally unique. The controlled chaos of his concerts allowed for the free-owing evolution of many of Zappas tracks, later appearing on subsequent albums. The increasingly rened art-rock of The Mothers Of Invention, continued over the next several years, Zappa drawing on their outsider, freaks, image to fortify the groups countercultural credentials. The Mothers third album Were Only In It For The Money,48 the cover art of which (shown below) was a parody of The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band,49 was designed to satirize many aspects of 1960s culture. The title, combined with the cover art, deliberately references The Beatles. This is Zappas self-referential commentary on the early days of The Mothers, about which he tells us, the only way to get gigs was to have long or Beatle-esque hair, or to incorporate the word Beatles into the band name somehow.50 Despite Were Only In It For The Moneys seemingly commercial presentation, the album opens and closes with two pieces of musique concrte, Are You
44 45
March 23rd to September 5th 1967.
Fricke, David, interviewed for Longfellow, Matthew, dir., Classic Albums: Over-Nite Sensation & Apostrophe (), (2007).
46
Borders, James, Form and the Concept Album: Aspects of Modernism in Frank Zappas Early Releases, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 39, No. 1, (Winter, 2001), 118-160; 121-122.
47
Hopkins, Jerry, interviewed, Zappa, Frank in, The Rolling Stone Interview, Rolling Stone, (July 20, 1968).
48 49 50
The Mothers Of Invention, Were Only In It For The Money, Rykodisc 10503 (1968). The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Apple (1967). Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 66. 11
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Hung Up?51 and The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny.52 The latter, closing the album, parodies the minute long triple-piano chord ending to the Beatles A Day In The Life.53
The Mothers Of Invention albums continued with this approach, as outlets for satirical political commentary. Two of the albums, Burnt Weeny Sandwich54 and Weasels Ripped My Flesh 55 were released after Zappa had dissolved what remained of The Mothers Of Invention lineup, and consisted of previously recorded tracks. The former album showcased the band in the studio, with more structured compositions, whilst the latter focuses on The Mothers in a live setting, featuring frenetic and chaotic improvisation owing much to avant-garde free jazz.
51
The Mothers Of Invention, Are You Hung Up?, Were Only In It For The Money, Rykodisc 10503. (1968).
52
The Mothers Of Invention, The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny, Were Only In It For The Money, Rykodisc 10503. (1968).
53 54 55
The Beatles, A Day In The Life, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Apple (1967). The Mothers Of Invention, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Rykodosc 10509 (1969). The Mothers Of Invention, Weasels Ripped My esh, Rykodisc 10510 (1970). 12
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Solo Albums While continuing to use The Mothers albums to attack popular culture, striking out at the ower-power movement, lampooning the hippies he considered inferior to the LA freaks, Zappa also began writing music as a solo artist. Despite quoting Edgard Varse as saying the present-day composer refuses to die on the album covers of his rst several albums, popular music inuences remained dominant in this period of his work, so far his talent for outrage had obscured his skills as a composer.56 Whilst The Mothers albums have compositional merit, it is Zappas efforts outside of The Mothers that demonstrate his ability to access a broader array of styles. Presenting this music as compositions that were usually instrumental (rather than songs), leant a sense of art music authenticity to his work, in contrast to the overtly commercial approach of The Mothers Of Invention albums. Discarding The Mothers Of Invention name, Zappas solo albums mark the beginning of a more serious, formalised approach to composition with a lesser emphasis on commercial manipulation. 57 Zappas rst solo effort, Lumpy Gravy,58 shares many stylistic similarities with Were Only In It For The Money, indeed the back cover of the original vinyl release pictures Zappa in tuxedo and top hat with speech bubble asking Is this phase 2 of Were Only In It For The
56 57 58
Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Complete Guide to his Music, (London, 2005), 18. Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 140-141. Frank Zappa, Lumpy Gravy, Rykodisc 10504 (1967). 13
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Money?.59 The album presents a juxtaposition of pop-art and high-brow inuences, reected again in the cover art (shown above), Zappa is depicted in a t-shirt on one side and top hat, tails and gloves on the other. Zappa was concerned with a dichotomy between what could be called the symphonic-modern and the pop-song-commercial,60 moving on a continuum between the two during his career. Lumpy Gravy is a clear sign of this position, blending his inuences together, a signier that he wished to be regarded as a composer, regardless of musical hemisphere. The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra & Chorus,61 popular and classical. Lumpy Gravy was more musically sophisticated than Were Only In It For The Money?, however whichever way you look at it, Lumpy Gravy was begging for commercial rejection. Many of its procedures: collage, fragmentation, parody, humor, and documentary, have since become requisites in postmodern music academies.62 His next solo effort was the album Hot Rats,63 his rst since he dissolved The Mothers Of Invention, continues the musically adventurous role he explored with Lumpy Gravy, this time however working in a jazz-fusion idiom featuring extended soloing and with vocals absent, with the exception of Captain Beefhearts evocative growl on Willie The Pimp.64 . Devoid of lyrics, and without the vocal satire, Hot Rats was more melodically accessible than The Mothers Of Invention material, consequently, the album become a particular hit in Europe. His lyrics and spoken word [on previous albums] had been barriers to his acceptance (this helps explain Zappas cult following in Europe, for non-English speakers, his words are less disruptive).65 was formed for the album, containing separate personnel to The Mothers to differentiate it as a solo effort, the name itself blending the
59 60
ibid., cover art.
Ashby, Arved, Frank Zappa and the Anti-Fetishist Orchestra, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 4 (Winter, 1999), 557-606; 558.
61 62 63 64 65
Frank Zappa, Lumpy Gravy, Rykodisc 10504 (1967). Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Complete Guide to his Music, (London, 2005), 13. Frank Zappa, Hot Rats, Rykodisc 10508 (1969). Frank Zappa, Willie The Pimp, Hot Rats, Rykodisc 10508 (1969). Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Complete Guide to his Music, (London, 2005), 20. 14
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Through his solo albums Zappa was free to explore the music he wanted to write without the musical expectations associated with the Mothers Of Invention name. He was able to focus on different musical genres and approaches and were a formative process in the development of his style, particularly as each of his solo albums seems more calculated, carefully composed and produced than their Mothers Of Invention counterparts. Flo & Eddie Zappas next album Chungas Revenge 66 has been described as transitional.67 This is because it is an album in which Zappa explored a wide array of different musical styles, acting as a multi-genre artist, many of which hark back to earlier work. The album sounds like a platform for experimentation for Zappa and, furthermore, acts as a preview of much of Zappas work to come. It has an eclectic array of tracks, the A-side ranging from Hot Rats jazz-fusion outtake Twenty Small Cigars,68 guitar jam Transylvania Boogie,69 and blues workout Road Ladies,70 to a multi-part live avant-garde improvisation The Nancy & Mary Music.71. The B-side introduces ex-Turtles singers, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, performing under the pseudonym The Florescent Leech & Eddie (later shortened to simply Flo & Eddie) due to contractual restrictions by The Turtles record company. They perform on just four songs, all of a pop music nature and quite different from the rest of the album, all dealing with the subject of sex and/or groupie encounters. This is signicant as it is the rst time Zappa wrote such overtly pop styled lyrics. These tracks preview the type of material that would be released on the next few albums, that is melodic vocal-led music where the lyrics are an important element of the song. Zappa had moved away from the previous albums formalism by recruiting pop singers and playing his interpretation of pop music. This new band became simply The Mothers (rather
66 67 68 69 70 71
Frank Zappa, Chungas Revenge, 10511 (1970). Chevalier, Dominique, Viva! Zappa, (1985). 65. Frank Zappa, Twenty Small Cigars, Chungas Revenge, 10511 (1970). ibid., Transylvania Boogie. ibid., Road Ladies. ibid., The Nancy & Mary Music. 15
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa than The Mothers Of Invention), with Flo & Eddie taking over vocal duties. Their vocal abilities, particularly when compared to Zappas limited range, and their harmonizing with each other, provided something that had not appeared on any of Zappas previous output, namely the potential to create three or four part harmony vocals between Flo, Eddie, and the rest of the band. The B-side of Chungas Revenge also contains The Clap.72 Performed by using multiple overdubs by Zappa himself, this short percussion piece is a heavily inuenced by the percussive styles of Varse and Steve Reich. By presenting it amongst tracks of a rmly popular music nature, it highlights Zappas desire to be seen as an artist who combined many diverse inuences and was not concerned with any hostility one musical world may have for another, let alone the potential stigma of combining the two. Watson aptly summed up the diversity of Chungas Revenge, Zappa was happy to be known as the King Of Weird: it gave him carte blanche to employ any musical texture or style that took his fancy.73 Each track was a small vignette to a Zappa, past and future. The change in band name allowed Zappa to present solo composed work within a band context, and for the introduction of new musicians to supplement or even replace those in the standard Mothers lineup. This introduction of not only new talents but new personalities and new voices to the live show was a crime original Mothers fans never forgave.74 Zappa used Flo & Eddie to mock pop-star behavior, using vaudeville pastiche on both Chungas Revenge and the live album Filmore East - June 1971. Flo & Eddie brought wider commercial success to Zappas material. Howard Kaylan (Flo) was aware of their contribution.
Frank tried for a long time with just his music, but now, through his music plus the acting and dialogue, hes creating this environment and, as a result, hes reaching a larger audience. He felt it was silly to have just a small band of committed active followers when, by changing his approach just a bit, he could attract a larger audience. Then, when theyre not looking, he can give then what he wanted to play in the rst place. As well as keeping most of the hardcore Mothers audience that he already had, Frank has now got a larger, younger following; when Mark and I joined the group we were playing 2,000 seater halls, but now were selling out places with a capacity of 10,000.75
72 73 74 75
ibid., The Clap. Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Complete Guide to his Music, (London, 2005), 23. ibid., 24. Kaylan, Howard, interviewed in Zig Zag, No, 25, (July 1972), 15. 16
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa This notion of subverting the popular music idiom from within, would later return on OverNite Sensation.76 Zappa adapted his approach to the records in order to build and broaden his audience, but even more so to the The Mothers live show. The Flo & Eddie Mothers contained less of the free improvisation of the early Mothers Of Invention, a trait that alienated some of the more hardcore fans, switching to more compact renditions of tracks, spontaneity being limited within the live set to Zappas improvised and much shortened guitar solos. The lyrics changed, sociopolitical commentaries replaced with the standardized popular music topic of sex, albeit with Zappa it is a subject portrayed in a crude, often visceral manner, designed to shock, and to attract a younger generation. This is illustrated for example in the live album Filmore East - June 1971,77 which provides an explicit portrayal of the sexual activities behind the scenes of a rocknroll band. The tale of The Mud Shark78 is a particularly crude example, portraying an incident that would, in Zappas own words, enter into rock mythology.79 This change in approach helped Zappa to be increasingly nancially secure.
As the heady days of rock counter-culture receded into the past it became obvious that rock was again a temporary cultural phase associated with adolescence. It was Zappas ability to relate to that audience through the 70s and 80s that ensured that, whatever the difculties he encountered in terms of corporate promotion and distribution, his music still kept a connection to the marketplace: precisely the situation required for his ambivalent, contradictory art to ourish.80
These albums represent Zappa the artist, fully embracing the norms of popular music. Whether this was in order to subvert popular music, or because he realised the nancial potential of such a venture, is unclear, most likely both factors are relevant. However, it is clear that by making money from pop he was able to fund his more experimental projects such as the big band inuenced album The Grand Wazoo 81 and his projects with the
76 77 78 79
Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Over-Nite Sensation. Rykodisc 10518 (1973). The Mothers, Filmore East - June 1971, Rykodisc 10512 (1971). ibid. The Mud Shark.
An alleged event was alleged to have occurred at the Edgewater Inn in Seattle on 28 July, 1969, involving Richard Cole, a road manager for Led Zeppelin and members of the band Vanilla Fudge. This event is alleged to involved a sexual act involving a young groupie and a sh, often claimed to be a mudshark. Davis, Steven, Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga, (New York, 1985).
80
Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, (London, 1994), 180-181.
81
Frank Zappa & The Mothers, The Grand Wazoo, Rykodisc 10517 (1972). 17
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa London Symphony Orchestra. This project is talked about at length in The Real Frank Zappa Book. Zappa readily changed his musical approach depending on his situation. He worked across many genres and mediums, writing the music that he needed to write as opposed to what he wanted to write given unlimited resources. Conned to a Wheelchair Despite increasing commercial success with the Flo & Eddie based band, Zappa suffered an unfortunate set of circumstances that interrupted his career. Without these interruptions Zappa may have continued to work with this band, producing more material in the same vein. The rst of these circumstances was the loss of bands equipment at The Montreux Jazz Festival where the venue was burnt to the ground, as immortalized in the lyrics to Deep Purples Smoke on the Water.82 Following this misfortune, Zappa and the band attempted to complete the tour using borrowed equipment. However, the end of The Mothers came in 1971 at the Rainbow Theatre in London, before completing the tour, when audience member Trevor Charles leapt across the orchestra pit as Zappa returned to the stage for the second encore, pushing him from the stage down into the orchestra pit, 15-feet below. Mark Volman recounts,
I remember looking down at him from the top of the pit and his leg was bent underneath him like a Barbie doll; his eyes were open but there was no life in them. Two or three of us were cradling him in the pit and the blood was running from his head to his knees We weren't sure if he would live through the night. 83
Zappa sustained a fractured ankle, at least one broken rib, a temporarily paralyzed arm, a number of gashes and contusions to his head, and a crushed larynx, the result of his head being forced over his shoulder in the fall. This resulted in the pitch of his voice being a third lower than before the accident. This directly inuenced his singing style, which became more often a monologue or speak-sung style, for the rest of his career. Having a low voice is nice but I would have preferred another means of acquiring it.84 This injury directly inuenced the albums produced during the DiscReet Records period discussed later, in which Zappa was restricted to providing humorous speech over the music, recruiting other musicians to do the majority of the actual singing.
82 83
Deep Purple, Smoke on the Water, Machine Head, (1972).
Various, Volman, Mark, interviewed in, Musician, Frank Zappa 1940-1993, (February, 1994).
84
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Due to the extent of his injuries and complications with his broken leg, Zappa was conned to a wheelchair for the better part of a year in 1971. This enforced live hiatus in which he refused interviews and photos, allowed for a return to a less commercial approach to composition, allowing him to focus again on the jazz-fusion direction he began on Hot Rats. ! Whilst wheelchair bound, touring was not an option, leading to the dissolution of the band. It didnt exist anymore - they all had to go out and get other jobs during the year I couldnt work.85 Conned to studio work and focusing on his skill as a composer and arranger, Zappa turned toward further jazz-rock efforts, albeit with larger ensembles than an average jazz-rock group. Waka/Jawaka86 and The Grand Wazoo 87 albums display how Zappas writing and recording technique had matured substantially in very little time. These albums share similarities with Hot Rats. Waka/Jawaka could be referred to as Hot Rats II, the cover artwork (shown below) displaying the words Hot and Rats in place of Hot and Cold.
85 86 87
ibid., 116 Frank Zappa, Waka/Jawaka, Rykodisc 10516 (1972). Frank Zappa & The Mothers, The Grand Wazoo, Rykodisc 10517 (1972). 19
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Zappa hired larger ensembles of musicians who possessed formal musical training. While wheelchair bound, he was unable to play guitar, and his accustomed extended bluesinuenced guitar solos. This gave Zappa the opportunity to broaden his compositional approach, and paved the way for a diverse array of inuences to surface, by composing and arranging for a large jazz-rock group with greater technical capability. There was, however, a nancial issue with touring with such large groups. The Grand Wazoo consisted of 20 members, all on Zappas payroll, and a large number of supporting technicians.
My problem is economics. A lot of people think Im a millionaire, and Id just like to say Im not, nor is there any chance in the near future of me becoming a millionaire. The reason in that the largest percentage of my money has gone back into equipment. Then you have to hire the technical people to move it, plug it in, and repair it. For every person on-stage, theres another person off-stage helping to make it happen.88
Following The Grand Wazoo tour, Zappa also commented,

It was a worthwhile experience. It cost me $2,000. Thats how much I lost on the tour. The tour grossed $97,000, and the expenses exceed that by $2,000. A group that size, carrying that much equipment, going to Europe, playing that few jobs in that amount of time cannot make any money at all. 89
This period shows Zappa working as a composer, which is particularly evident in his methods, he was forced to compose everything on paper as he was unable to play instruments or actively work in the studio. These manuscripts had to be arranged, sent to copyists and distributed to musicians possessing formal training. Zappa was able to conduct from his wheelchair, however, the tour was a commercial failure and forced Zappa to assess the practicality of the band arrangements and to consider ways of achieving comparable results from a more compact unit. This led to another stylistic change, this time for purely nancial reasons, reverting to a smaller ensemble. He restored sociocultural references and satire to the lyrics, and combined it with a polished production style. He formed a new label, DiscReet Records for this new direction.
88 89
Smith, Jim, Kicks in the Ear, NME, (January 26, 1974).
Murray, Charles Shaar, Penguins in Bondage and Other Perversions, NME, (September 1, 1973). 20
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa DiscReet Records The release of the album Over-Nite Sensation 90 marked a move away from the original Mothers Of Invention, the Flo & Eddie Mothers, and his art-rock releases under the Verve and Bizarre labels. The rst releases under Zappas new company, DiscReet Records, ushered in a new era of commercial success but again alienated some of his art-rock supporters. Over-Nite Sensation, in all its neon brashness, was an atrocity committed on a counterculture now revealed as hypocritical and collusive.91 This view of the counterculture was highlighted by Zappa himself. The fraudulence of the counterculture was a recurring lyrical theme, of which Cosmic Debris92 and Camarillo Brillo,93 are particularly pithy examples. The releases under DiscReet marked a conscious move towards a form that was as close to a traditional pop/rock album as Zappa would ever come. This new era of comparative commerciality was echoed in the DiscReet logo, combining businesslike simplicity with a sinister, retro 50s streamlined look.94 It brought Zappa a large number of new fans, continuing what he had begun with the Flo & Eddie albums. The music is more accessible, with compact arrangements and less extended improvisation. David Fricke, of Rolling Stone argues that Over-Nite Sensation was the turning point. He connected with an audience that stayed with him for the rest of his career.95 Over-Nite Sensation combines the lyrical themes of sex, explored with the Flo & Eddie band, and combines it with the sociopolitical commentary of the early Mothers, satirising current issues and telling humorous stories. Zappa continued this approach on the followup album Apostrophe ().96 Both albums were recorded around the same time and
90 91
Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Over-Nite Sensation. Rykodisc 10518 (1973).
Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, (London, 1994), 210.
92 93
Frank Zappa, Cosmik Debris, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974).
94
95 96
Longfellow, Matthew, dir., Classic Albums: Over-Nite Sensation & Apostrophe (), (2007). Frank Zappa, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974). 21
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa demonstrate his ability to explore and expand on the methods used in early bands, but do so with a group of more technically able musicians, in an accessible package. ! !
Zappas countercultural credentials are seriously called into question by records rife with melody, relatively short songs, with lyrics that wander from silly to, in the case of Dont Eat The Yellow Snow,97 novelty.98
The two albums mentioned appalled many of the critics. However, the silliness of the albums had mass appeal, Apostrophe () was to be Zappas biggest commercial success in the USA.99 This change of approach was a calculated one on Zappas part. The dumbed down nature of his lyrics acts as a deection from the complexity of the music. Kerry McNabb, a recording engineer for Zappa from the early 1970s has said that, Over-Nite Sensation was musically very appealing to me, I mean it was like, Frank was a little jazz orientated but it was also rocknroll and it blended that really nice. I always liked that.100 It should be noted that although one might describe some of Zappas work as commercial and/or accessible, of the 20 singles he released, only one reached the top 20 singles in the USA, and only one made the top 40 in the UK. Of the around 100 Zappa albums released Apostrophe was the only one to make the USA album charts top 20, reaching number ten in the chart. Camarillo Brillo Zappa appeared to be working subversively from within the popular music industry. Camarillo Brillo101 both musically and thematically is an example of this, standing rmly in the pop song idiom, yet using this as a base to lampoon the counterculture. It embodies the stylistic shift toward more accessible music and lyrics, a style Zappa developed over
97 98 99
Frank Zappa, Dont Eat the Yellow Snow, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974). Lowe, Kelly Fisher, The Words and Music of Frank Zappa, (Nebraska, 2007), 105. Apostrophe () reached number 10 in the US Pop Albums Billboard chart.
100
101
Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Camarillo Brillo, Over-Nite Sensation. Rykodisc 10518 (1973). 22
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa the next few albums, gradually combining a level of comparative accessibility with increasing musical dexterity, culminating in Inca Roads.102 Musically Camarillo Brillo consists of simple major chords throughout. The musicians play together rather than against each other, as in much of Zappas intentionally rhythmically confusing work, and unusually the track also stays in 4/4 throughout. Zappas guitar provides brief, tasteful licks throughout, reminiscent of Mark Knopers guitar stylings on Sultans of Swing.103 Zappa predates Knoper by ve years, however, the comparison serves to highlight the use of short tasteful licks instead of sprawling exploratory solos. The track is catchy and memorable and it sets the tone that follows on the remainder of Over-Nite Sensation. Lyrically the track is a tuneful assault on the mysticism of the hippie counterculture, highlighting how transparent alternative culture had become by 1973.
And so she wandered through the doorway Just like a shadow from the tomb.104
The song tells the story of the narrators encounter with a hippie-mama,105 personifying the hippie scene. The character thinks highly of herself as the magic mama before continuing to name-check the hippie paraphernalia on display around her apartment. ! ! ! !
She could throw a mean Tarot She had a snake for a pet And an amulet Right past her fuming incense stencher To where she hung her castanets.106
102
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, Inca Roads, One Size Fits All, Rykodisc 10521 (1975).
103 104
Dire Straits, Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits, Vertigo (1978).
105
106
Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Camarillo Brillo, Over-Nite Sensation. Rykodisc 10518 (1973). 23
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa The title Camarillo Brillo refers to a kind of white Afro, the kind of hair style that a middle class women who was down with the struggle might have worn.107 Furthermore, the song refers to her belief that,
She ruled the toads Of the short forest And every newt in Idaho And every cricket who had chorused By the bush in Buffalo.108
The woman evidently wishes to demonstrate her oneness with nature, a central part of the stereotypical hippie ethos. Furthermore, the impression is given that the woman is somewhat removed from reality, implying the inuence of hallucinogenic drugs, and references literature associated with the hippie counterculture.
Breeding a Dwarf But wasnt done yet She had grey-green skin A doll with a pin109
Zappa is naming artifacts of this literature which includes; Tolkeins The Lord of the Rings110, in which Dwarves and forests and heavily featured; Occultist Aleister Crowley, with a gesture to voodoo magic; and the pseudoscientic writings of Erich von Dniken, particularly Chariots of the Gods,111 the latter being the subject of Inca Roads. While at the same time appealing to this countercultural market, Zappa is highlighting the fraudulence of the hippie counterculture that was steadily being absorbed into consumerled society during the 1970s as individual social identity became more closely identied with the consumption (and display) of goods.112 The hippie identity had become a popular modern commodity and fashion statement.
107 108
Lowe, Kelly Fisher, The Words and Music of Frank Zappa, (Nebraska, 2007), 110.
109 110 111 112
ibid. Tolkein, J. R. R., The Lord of the Rings, (London, 1955). Dniken, Erich von, Chariots of the Gods, (London, 1969). Shuker, Roy, Popular Music: The Key Concepts, (New York, 2005), 46. 24
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Despite Zappas straightforward vocal tone throughout, it is the music, in its bouncing joviality, that reveals the irony with which he speaks. Its commercial vacuity acknowledges the alienation of the rock market. Adorno remarked: Novelty songs have always existed on a contempt for meaning which, as predecessors and successors of psychoanalysis, they reduce to a monotony of sexual symbolism. 113114 The song, and much of Zappas output, could be labeled novelty as Adorno suggests, however, the sense of novelty is a calculated aspect of the tracks aesthetic, novelty equating here with satire. Conceptual Continuity and the Poodle Zappa tried to create continuity through his entire body of work by drawing threads between isolated songs, using abstract themes such as the poodle to connect them. He was trying to emulate classical composers, to be viewed based on his body of work, rather than by a single album or track. The commodication of the counterculture in Camarillo Brillo is a theme reprised in Cosmic Debris,115 and previously alluded to in the Flo & Eddie version of Call Any Vegetable116 with a memorable mid-song routine satirising countercultural consumerism.
FZ: You know, a lot of people don't bother about their friends in the vegetable kingdom. They, they think: What can I say? Some times they think: Where can I go? HK: Where can I go to get my poodle clipped in Burbank? MV: At Ralph's vegetarian poodle clippin', where you can come this ... HK: Where can I go to get organic Vaseline for my intercourse? MV: At Bob and Ray's Swahili restaurant, where you can come this Friday... HK: Where can I go to get my jeans embroidered in Fullerton? MV: At Jeans, at Jeans North where nothing ts HK: Where can I go to get my zipper repaired in Hollywood? MV: Who gives a fuck anyway! HK: Where can I go to get my speakers xed? MV: Hey ... at Jack La... HK: Where can I go to get my exit lights? MV: At Jack La Lanne Hamburgers on 312 Whittier Boulevard HK: Where can I go to get my stomach pumped? Where can I go to collapse? MV: Adee do... FZ: Questions, Questions, Questions, ooding into the mind of the concerned young person today. 117
113 114
Adorno, Theodor, and Horkheimer, Max, The Dialectic of Enlightenment, (1944), 138.
115 116
Frank Zappa, Cosmik Debris, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974).
The Mothers, Call Any Vegetable, Just Another Band from L.A., Rykodisc 10515 (1972).
117
ibid. 25
This routine is one of the earliest appearances of the poodle in Zappas work. The poodle in this case is pointing to pets as a non-functional commodity, and the relevant paraphernalia associated with them. It is symbolic of the unnecessary consumerism rmly entwined in a modern sense of social identity.
Look, a poodle is born. It's got hair evenly distributed all over its small, piquant, canine-type body. Figure it out. They don't start looking weird until some woman decides that she wants to shape all that stuff to make it look like a walking shrubbery.118
Poodles also form a part of what Zappa termed Conceptual Continuity.

There is a concept to what I'm doing and there is a continuity to the concept, and I happen to be living inside of the concept. I'm a participant in it. The conceptual continuity is this: everything, even this interview, is part of what I do for, let's call it, my entertainment work. And there's a big difference between sitting here and talking about this kind of stuff, and writing a song like Titties and Beer. But as far as I'm concerned, it's all part of the same continuity. It's all one piece. It all relates in some weird way back to the focal point of what's going on.119
The reason for the use of the poodle, a recurrent theme across his body of work, is according to Zappa, to bring unity to the collection. He believed that whilst albums, performances and interviews can be treated individually, they should also be considered within the context of the larger body of work. Conceptual continuity, using different key concepts that thread together seemingly unrelated works, forms part of his larger theory of the Project/Object.
Project/Object is a term I have used to describe the overall concept of my work in various mediums. Each project (in whatever realm), or interview connected to it, is part of a larger object, for which there is no 'technical name.120
Zappa however, dismisses any deeper meaning to the use of the poodle other than for unication.
You may nd a little poodle over here, a little blow job over there, etc., etc. I am not obsessed by poodles or blow jobs, however; theses words (and others of equal insignicance), along with
118 119 120
Marshall, Bob, interviewed, Zappa, Frank, (October 21-22 1988). ibid. Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 139. 26

pictorial images and melodic themes, recur throughout the albums, interviews, lms, videos (and this book) for no other reason than to unify the collection.121
Despite his dismissive tone, clearly there is greater signicance to his use of these words. In the case of poodles, he uses them as a vehicle to convey his contempt for the consumerism of the counterculture. The conceptual continuity ideal furthermore, is a clear link to his desire to be viewed as a serious composer, regardless of genre or medium. His appreciation of classical music, of composers regarded and remembered based on a unied body of work, is clearly an inuence on his approach, thus he incorporates and adapts classical musical concepts such as extended structural forms and leitmotif. Certainly these motifs draw a thread through Zappas work in a way that is more common in the work of art music rather than popular music composers. Dirty Love122 explicitly introduces the poodle for the rst time.
In Dirty Love the narrater encounters a groupie whom he treats entirely as a sex object...For Zappa, that was all there was to sex: as long as everybody had an orgasm, everything was all right. Dirty Love concludes with a young woman having sex with her poodle. It probably never occurred to Zappa that this description of bestiality might offend people.123
This track is not an endorsement of bestiality, rather Zappa exploiting the nature of social correctness for comedic effect, part of an ongoing project of social critique. Canine references, although not explicitly poodles, continue to appear through the next several albums. The changing aesthetic of Zappas music demonstrates his awareness of the commercial world. He was aware that in reaching a broader market, despite accusations of sellingout, he was widening his inuence and accentuating the potency of the Zappa name as a brand. He is portrayed in the media as being particularly wacky, as is evident in the Zappa-approved promotional animated television commercial124 for Apostrophe (). The colorful promo gives little hint as to the depth of Zappas work, purely focusing on short excerpts from tracks and sampling outlandish musical phrases and comic sounding vocals,
121 122 123 124
ibid., 140. Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Dirty Love, Over-Nite Sensation. Rykodisc 10518 (1973). Miles, Barry, Zappa: A Biography, (New York, 2004), 233.
Zappa, Frank, Album promo, Apostrophe (), http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=iRbn3ZZx0Mg (1974). 27
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa for example great googly-moogly,125 whilst also adding cartoon sound effects. This promo highlights the comedic value of Zappas music, not the serious side. Furthermore, Zappa appeared to be embracing this new-found accessibility and popularity. He used the nancial gain from his more commercial music to fund other activities.
Thanks to songs like Dinah Moe Humm, Titties & Beer and Dont Eat The Yellow Snow, I managed to accumulate enough cash to bribe a group of drones to grind its way through pieces like Mo n Herbs Vacation, Bob in Dacron and Bogus Pomp (eventually released on London Symphony Orchestra, Volumes I and II) - in performances which come off like high-class demos of what actually resides in the scores.126
It is clear that Zappa was as frustrated with the lack of personal engagement and commitment of classical musicians, as with the commerciality of some of his popular music based work. Despite obviously targeted musical appeal on Zappas part, he is dismissive of the Apostrophes success, attributing it to,
an accident because a guy in Pittsburgh took Dont Eat The Yellow Snow, cut it down...to three minutes and put in on the station. The guy who did it heard the song, perceived it as a modernday novelty record and put it on right alongside Teeny Weeny Bikini and it became a hit. But it was nothing that Warner Brothers ever foresaw, it was nothing that I could have foreseen as a guy at DiscReet Records, a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a subsidiary. Who knew? The credit goes to the DJ.127
Zappa was hesitant to appear commercial in interviews, and downplays any sense of musical elitism. By embracing the high technical standards of classical music and applying them to popular music, he is rejecting the stuffy image of the classical composer and simultaneously demonstrating that popular music can be more advanced. Zappas denition of earning a living is clearly a signicant factor in his work. The DiscReet Records period was specically targeted at nancial gain, particularly by provoking the audience with his lyrics, because he knew it would be received well by his audience, resulting in all-important sales. The people most offended by my lyrics seem to
125 126 127
Frank Zappa, Nanook Rubs It, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974). Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 146. Ruhlmann, William, Moving on to Phase Three, Goldmine, January 27, (1989). 28
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa be rock critics. The audiences usually like them.128 In an interview with Zappa for NME in 1973 he said, Our audiences are generally larger than theyve ever been before.129 Through this successful period, Zappas popular music credentials came to the fore, with his classical leaning in the background, in a more subtle guise. Shorter songs meant that extended melodic experimentation and improvisation had to be kept to a minimum. However, dense small clusters of rhythmic and melodic complexity remained, for example in Montana130 which contains a vocal section, sung by Tina Turner and the Ikettes, which combines humorous lyrics about dental oss with angular melodic and rhythmic phrasing. This is an example of Zappa combining two musical worlds within the popular idiom, something he would develop further in Inca Roads as will be discussed later.
The Bands Beyond economic reasons, a further signicant inuence on Zappas compositions were the capabilities and backgrounds of the musicians he had in his employ. The band of the DiscReet Records period, ending with One Size Fits All,131 was one of particular technical accomplishment, and from a variety of different backgrounds, and allowed Zappa to experiment widely as he had the means to reproduce his vision accurately and reliably. It is important to understand these inuences from his different bands, the cross section of musicians he had in his employ manifests in his stylistic choices musically. Zappa always wrote with consideration for the musicians he had available to him at the time. Songs would be rearranged for different bands to accommodate a certain lineup or individual specialist talent.
Old songs get modied to accommodate each new band. The body of the song, the melody line, the words, and the chords remain the same, but all aspects of clothing, or the orchestration are up for grabs, based on the musical resources at hand.
128 129 130 131
Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 221. Murray, Charles Shaar, Godmother, NME, (August 26, 1973), 197. Frank Zappa, Montana, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974). Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, One Size Fits All, Rykodisc 10521 (1975). 29

With the 1988 band (twelve pieces including myself), the orchestration was far more luxuriant for some of the older songs than when they were originally recorded, simply because I didnt want to have eleven guys standing round onstage with nothing to do.132
Zappa assembled a new band for Over-Nite Sensation (1973), the core players 133 of which stayed together over the next several albums, Apostrophe () (1974), Roxy & Elsewhere (1974),134 and One Size Fits All (1975).135 The core members of this group, led by Zappa on guitar, consisted of keyboardist George Duke (also adding his uent vocal ability to many tracks), bassist Tom Fowler, and virtuoso percussionist Ruth Underwood, introducing a fundamentally classical instrument, a marimba, to what otherwise is a conventional rock lineup. Napoleon Murphy Brock added vocals from Apostrophe () onwards and Ralph Humphrey was the drummer until the live album Roxy & Elsewhere where he was joined by Chester Thompson, the two drummers playing simultaneously. Thompson later replaced him altogether for One Size Fits All. ! This four album period of intense creativity had a variety of credits in terms of the band name itself. Over-Nite Sensation and Roxy & Elsewhere were credited as Frank Zappa & The Mothers, implying a sense of the groups involvement on the records, particularly in the case of Roxy & Elsewhere as it is, with the exception of the occasional overdub, a live album showcasing the virtuosity of the band. Apostrophe () is credited simply to Frank Zappa, and One Size Fits All is credited as Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, dropping the capital O is a last nod at the group ethic,136 recalling of Invention for the rst time since Weasels Ripped My Flesh, the last album released by the original Mothers
132 133
Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 163.
The Over-Nite Sensation band consisted of Ralph Humphrey, Sal Marquez, George Duke, Tom Fowler, Bruce Fowler, Ian Underwood, Ruth Underwood, and Jon-Luc Ponty, plus Tina Turner, Linda Sims & Debbie Wilson. Apostrophe () featured the same musicians as Over-Nite Sensation plus Jim Gordon, John Guerin, Aynsley Dunbar, Jack Bruce, Sugar Cane Harris, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Tony Duran. Roxy & Elsewhere musicians were George Duke, Tom Fowler, Ruth Underwood, Jeff Simmons, Don Preston, Bruce Fowler, Walt Fowler, Napoleon Murphy Brock, and Chester Thompson. One Size Fits All features George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Chester Thompson, Tom Fowler, Ruth Underwood, James Bird-Legs Youmann, Johnny Guitar Watson, and Bloodshot Rollin Red (Captain Beefheart).
134 135 136
Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Roxy & Elsewhere, Rykodisc 10520 (1974). Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, One Size Fits All, Rykodisc 10521 (1975).
Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, (London, 1994), 265. 30
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Of Invention. Following One Size Fits All, no other album of new material would be credited to The Mothers in any form, as he nally severed the link to his earlier work and the band that spawned his career. Zappa wanted a composers complete control over the music, rather than the collaborative approach of a band.
One of the things about Frank that I know drove a lot of people crazy was that he was very sure of what he wanted. That could be difcult if a musician wanted to do his own thing. 137
The control over the musicians in his employ was among the reasons he cited for the dissolution of the original Mothers Of Invention lineup. Formed initially as a self-contained band unit, members became disillusioned with their lack of creative control and input. Despite the band being ofcially known as The Mothers Of Invention, in reality Zappa was in charge. Lowell George, who played with The Mothers Of Invention on Weasels Ripped My Flesh, described the situation.
The band at the time was very much like the Lawrence Roxy of Welk. Frank wrote all the charts. Everything was very prescribed. There was no room at all for any emotion. The band felt very hurt and ripped off because Frank was living in a $100,000 house in Beverley Hills and they were all still down in the valley. Frank would write piece after piece after piece and they would have to play it exact. They were hurt by the fact that he was making more money, but more than that they became more alienated by the fact that he would overwork and become totally inhuman.138
Zappa was clearly working within a classical model, as composer he was writing the music and taking the lions share of royalties, with paid musicians performing to his increasingly detailed and controlled specication. Zappa was able to coax the best from his musicians, utilising their talents in often unexpected ways to both public and performer. Mark Volman from the Flo & Eddie band noted that, Frank demanded something of us that we had never really experienced in rocknroll, which was tting ourselves into a band, not just as singers, but as musicians
137
Various, Ruth Underwood interviewed in, Frank Zappa 1940-1993, Musician, (February, 1994).
138
Erskine, Peter, This heres LOWELL GEORGE, (excited gibbering), NME, (February 1, 1975). 31
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa using our voices as musical instruments.139 Sensation band
Frank had musicians around him who could realise both the humor and technical brilliance of his writing. In particular, Ruth Underwoods phenomenal skill with vibes, marimba and other percussion brought a pointilistic exactitude to the jagged terrain of Franks melodies.140
With the introduction of the Over-Nite
In turn of Zappa, Ruth Underwood has said,

I was ready to dedicate myself completely to Franks music. He really knew what buttons to push, emotionally and musically. He was a remarkable referee. He knew how to synthesize peoples personalities and talents. Thats a very rare gift. He wasnt just a conductor standing there waving his arms; he was playing us as people! I became a perfectionist, I suppose because I had to be. 141
Interviewed in the documentary 142 Underwood showcases Zappas ability by displaying a handwritten manuscript of a piece written for marimba and inserted into St. Alphonsos Pancake Breakfast143 as the interlude Rollo Interior.144 Underwood states,
Many of the parts Frank wrote for me, just suited me perfectly. Its the music that I would have written for myself if Id had that talent, and Frank knew how to do that for me. I think he knew how to do that for really everybody.145
This short instrumental piece has similarities to instrumental sections in Inca Roads,146 again written whilst Underwood was in the band. Such instrumental passages were a result of this talented musicians presence in the band, tailor-made to her instrumental capability and musical palette. Zappas son Dweezil, in preparation for the Zappa Plays
139 140
Kloet, Co de, Society Pages, 10, Happy Together: Part Two.
Slaven, Neil, Electric Don Quioxte: The Denitive Story of Frank Zappa, (London, 1996), 197.
141 142
Ruth Underwood interviewed in Musician, Frank Zappa 1940-1993, (February, 1994).
143
Frank Zappa, St. Alphonsos Pancake Breakfast, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974).
144
Frank Zappa, Rollo Interior, movement in, St. Alphonsos Pancake Breakfast, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974).
145
146
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Zappa147 project, a band formed by Dweezil paying tribute to his fathers music, comments on the piece,
I felt compelled to learn it [Rollo Interior] on guitar. Just because its so much a part of Franks compositional style, the rhythms, the melody of it, the way it all comes together with a sense of humor, but its graceful and its just difcult as all hell.148
! Zappa earned tremendous respect and commitment from his musicians. They submitted themselves to his grueling rehearsal schedule with dedication. Barry Hansen for Rolling Stone describes a rehearsal attended at the period,
[It] was devoted to the meticulous honing of several especially angular and asymmetrical passages. The musicians worked diligently, oblivious to the light crews who scurried about in their midst, setting up strobe lights and such. Except for the ashing lights, the scarcity of music stands, the process resembled a symphony rehearsal far more than the usual loose rock session, with nary a beer bottle or joint to be seen. Zappa is a perfectionist, but what may be more remarkable is his prodigious energy level, which enables him to be a prolic writer/ composer despite a heavy touring schedule. 149
Keyboard player George Duke elaborates on this observation with an insight into studio commitments. They would enter the studio at noon or one oclock, and be there until seven or eight oclock in the morning.150 A potential twenty hour day demands a particular level of commitment, such devotion from his band members allowed Zappa to pursue increasingly complicated music with consummate reliability on stage.
God, the amount of music you had to play the same each night! That was some of the most difcult music Ive ever played, partly because he composed a lot of it from the guitar. But once I was in the band for four years or whatever, it came to a point where he didn't have to write anything out for me. I knew what Frank was looking for. [] Once we get to the level we were at on The Roxy and Elsewhere, there was almost nothing we couldnt do. [] We were like a rubber-band band. 151
Having the right musicians backing him meant Zappa could escape both the technical restrictions of most popular musicians and the slavery to the score of classical players, in
147
Pierre & Francois Lamoureux, dir., Zappa Plays Zappa, (2007). Additional information can be found at http://www.zappaplayszappa.com.
148
149
Hansen, Barry, Rolling Stone, Zappa: Continuity Is The Mothers Mother, (July 4, 1974).
150 151
Doerstuck, Robert L., Keyboard, The Zappa Legacy, (April 1994). ibid. 33
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa order to realise his ambitious musical design, Zappa and the band developing an intuitive musical empathy. His ability to manage his musicians personalities and unique technical talents, writing parts that would fully utilise their abilities and experience, allowed for a period of prodigious creativity, releasing four albums in three years and touring relentlessly, culminating in One Size Fits All.
I'm not a composer but I felt like one when I played Frank's music. That's how intimate a relationship he had with his players. I have never met a player who worked with Frank for any length of time who has ever gotten over not playing for him. It's not just, "Oh yeah, it was a good gig." It was an experience unlike any other.152
This band was comprised largely of musicians of a jazz or conservatory background and the music was more technically precise and in a broadly progressive rock/jazz form, a signicant departure from the art-rock craziness of the rst ten years with The Mothers. The musicians, in a period of comparative stability compared to the often revolving lineup of musicians in the earlier years, developed an intuitive connection with Zappas compositional style. They were able to realise his technically demanding written parts, and were able to extrapolate their own parts from Zappas musical instruction.
His favorite way to compose was in the moment with a guitar. So, you know, you set up, you have a really well rehearsed band and the band is happening and everybody does what theyre supposed to do. Then you have this moment, which belongs to you and you go for what they used to joke about. I remember a conversation with Frank and Beefheart where they were talking about the perfect note, and the perfect note is really the only one that is possible to play that is absolutely correct.153
This collaborative form of composition caused contention with some musicians over credits. Eric Clapton, after seeing The Mothers at the Garrick Theatre, was invited back to Zappas house where
he made me play in a Revox and told me to play all the licks I knew. He was very manipulative and knew how to appeal to my ego and my vanity. I think he just had les and les of tapes of people.154
152
Various, Ruth Underwood interviewed in Musician, Frank Zappa 1940-1993, (February, 1994).
153
154
Mead, David, Guitarist, The Guitarist Interview, June 1994. 34
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Such methods could often leave band members feeling exploited, as Lowell George states,
Frank borrowed a lot of music from a lot of players that are in the group. Don Preston has been ripped off all along. A lot of chord passages are Donnys concepts that Frank borrowed. Franks attitude is, The guy plays in my band. I pay him $250 a week, sure I can borrow anything from him 155
However with his breakaway from The Mothers, retaining complete control over a hired unit of musicians on a strict salary, the issue of intellectual theft or borrowing dissipated. Former Mothers members grievances, striking out at Zappa, often appear bitter at the loss of a steady income because of the demise of the band. The highly skilled unit captured on One Size Fits All represents a band at the height of its powers. Enjoying a period of stability, Zappa was able to sculpt the band to his design, individual musicians progressing whilst under his tutelage.
I dont give musicians a questionnaire when they join the band about where theyve been to school or what kind of technical information they possess - Ill hear the audition whether they can play or not. For the ones who pass the audition, as soon as I nd out what they dont know, I attempt to devise musical language that will describe my musical intentions, in shorthand form, if they dont know the standard technical terms or if (in spite of the fact that they might be great players) they have never been asked to try some of the things the band veterans have been doing for years from muscle memory. 156
Furthermore, an intense touring schedule coupled with Zappas prolic writing whilst on and off the road, meant that new material had to be developed rapidly in rehearsals and sound checks, rened on the road before being committed to tape in the studio.
He just devoured music; that was all he thought about. We listened to his music on the bus; we rehearsed it at sound checks; we played it that night; we analyzed it the next day. 157
Inca Roads158 represents one such track. Rened on the road, the recording is a hybrid of studio and live recording, the basic tracks were recorded for a live KCET television
155
Walley, David, No Commercial Potential: The Sage of Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention, New York , 1996).
156 157
Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 166.
Various, Ruth Underwood interviewed in Musician, Frank Zappa 1940-1993, (February, 1994).
158
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa program with overdubs added in the studio later, whilst the guitar solo was taken from a live performance of the track, edited down to become more coherent and spliced into the rest of the track. To execute a track of such difculty without the need for extensive overdubs and editing, as we are used to with todays digital recording technology, clearly represents a band of particular prowess, a seamless unit that has become greater than the sum of its parts.
With Over-Nite Sensation & Apostrophe () in the can, Zappa entered into what biographers would probably call, were it the seventeenth century, his mature period. His music seems, from this point on much less desperate and much more focused. The albums would show an increasing ability and maturity. It would take real disruption to move him back to pure humor.159
Inca Roads
All Im interested in doing is writing music that I want to hear. If Im going into an area that youre not interested in going, ne, you stay home. Ill tell you what happened when I get back. Ill do you a public service, Ill go nd out whats out there. The only problem is, if you dont go there with me, youre gonna have to take my word for it when I give you my report. Now thats not too smart. You should at least come along for the ride and nd out whats happening out there.160
Much of Frank Zappas music can be broadly divided into two types, serious and complex music, demonstrating his contemporary classical music inuences, and humourous, accessible music designed to entertain (and generate funds), through catchy melodies, profane or political lyrics, all of which were targeted to appeal to the counterculture whilst subtly mocking it from within. Zappa blurred the boundary between two musical worlds, the serious and the popular and was not fully accepted in either one, but he was able to morph between and combine the two. Inca Roads 161 from One Size Fits All displays inuence from both musical worlds. Meaning in the Title Inca Roads Inca Roads continued Zappas trend for lampooning aspects of the countercultural ethos without specically discounting them, dwelling on specics and minutiae to illustrate his
159 160
Lowe, Kelly Fisher, The Words and Music of Frank Zappa, (Nebraska, 2007), 113.
Martin Perlich, radio interview on bootleg album, Leatherette. Loonar Tunes, 2S-5LP (1977).
161
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa point, similar to the techniques used in Camarillo Brillo,162 as discussed earlier. In this track Zappa abandoned his former gooness for a more incisive, serious approach, the satire much less blatant. The primary semantic focus of the track was the writings of Swiss author, Erich von Dniken, specically his book Chariots of the Gods? 163, through which he popularised his theories of paleocontact and his ancient astronaut hypothesis. Released in 1968, Dnikens pseudoscientic theories proved popular within the counterculture. He presented evidence (later revealed as false by the scientic community) that pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts, such as the Nazca Lines in Peru, constructed by ancestors of the Incas, were landing strips for extra-terrestrial vehicles.
If you y over this territory, the plain of Nazca, you can make out gigantic lines, laid out geometrically, some of which run parallel to each other, while others intersect or are surrounded by large trapezoidal areas. The archaeologists say that they are Inca roads. A preposterous idea! Of what use to the Incas were roads that ran parallel to each other? That intersected? That were laid out in a plain and came to a sudden end? [] Seen from the air, the clear-cut impression that the 37-mile-long plain of Nazca made on me was that of an aireld! What is so farfetched about the idea?164
Dniken invites belief by targeting the countercultural ideals of individuality, suggesting that by investing in his work and his beliefs the reader is setting themselves apart from the norm, the established conformity of the state and established history. The opening paragraph of the book states,
It took courage to write this book, and it will take courage to read it. Because its theories and proofs do not t into the mosaic of traditional archaeology, constructed so laboriously and rmly cemented down, scholars will call it nonsense and put it on the index of those books which are better left unmentioned. Laymen will withdraw into the snail shell of their familiar world when faced with the probability that nding out about our past will be even more mysterious and adventurous than nding out about the future.165
Zappa was a fan of science ction at an early age, and he satirises Dnikens ideas by mixing them with the imagery of the traditional ying-saucer. In Inca Roads (see score letter C) lead singer and keyboard player George Duke exclaims,! !
Sure was different, I aint seen nothing like it in my entire life.
162
163 164 165
Dniken, Erich von, Chariots of the Gods, (London, 1969). ibid., 15-16. ibid., 1. 37
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa This spoken line leaps out abruptly, breaking away from the free-owing melody preceding it, and becomes immersed in intentionally confusing vocal chatter. It expresses science ction mythology, evoking the reaction of a UFO spotter being interviewed. The science-ction parody is reinforced by the opening 16 bars, until the vocal enters, which contain synthesized space ship sounds. The electronic noises, created from white noise manipulated through the lter controls on a synthesizer, evoke a science ction lm. The sound effects are coupled with an etherial synthesizer melody, sounding much like a theremin, an instrument widely used in science-ction lms such as The War of the Worlds,166 Forbidden Planet,167 and 2001: A Space Odyssey.168 The synthesizer purposefully plays out of key, evoking an otherworldly feel. The notes glide smoothly from one to another before gradually descending chromatically to the entry of the lead vocal, suggesting a space ship slowly descending to land. This introduces the narrative theme of the track and sets up Zappas science-ction parody before a single word is spoken, purely through clever sound design. The sound effects, through synchresis,169170 combine ltered white noise swooshes as the wind of the Andes, providing the locational soundscape, whilst the etherial, theremin-like melody depicts the spaceship coming into land. Whilst the title Inca Roads seems simple, it refers both to the incredibly sophisticated road system the Incas possessed, and is also a direct reference to Dniken, who rejects the archaeological suggestion that the Nazca Lines were roads. Referring back to the earlier quotation, The archaeologists say that they are Inca roads. A preposterous idea!171 This represents a lack of informed research on Dnikens part, as in fact the purpose of the lines is unknown, and there are many archaeological suggestions of their purpose, one such suggestion being that they were symbols aimed towards the Gods.
They [the Nazca lines] are approximately fteen hundred years old and might be calendary observations, or they could be genealogical symbol trees. [] It is known that sometime close
166 167 168 169
Haskin, Byron, dir., The War of The Worlds, (1953). Wilcox, Fred M., The Forbidden Planet, (1956). Kubrick, Stanley, dir., 2001: A Space Odyssey, (1968).
The forging of an immediate and necessary relationship between something one sees and something one hears at the same time (from sychronism and synthesis).
170 171
Chion, Michel, Audio-Vision: Sound On Screen, (New York, 1990). 63-64. Dniken, Erich von, Chariots of the Gods, (London, 1969), 15-16. 38

to A.D. 900 a mountain people called the Tiahuanaco Empire came to the coast in a religiomilitary invasion. They had an interest in astrology, a solar calendar, and, as well, a sort of shadow clock. It is highly possible that the Tiahuanacan culture brought the technique of the lines to Nazca. 172
Dnikens approach therefore is based on assumption and invented evidence, clearly a suitable target for Zappa, who consistently refuted the pseudoscientic leanings of the counterculture. By calling the song Inca Roads, a term invented by Dniken to describe a supposed consensus within archaeology, that does not actually exist, Zappa parodies Dnikens theories and hippie culture, whilst drawing on them as subject material. Another interpretation of the title is that it is the pun, Ink Erodes. This could refer to impermanence, to the fading of metanarratives, the fading of texts, to early records not surviving. The pun in the title represents a disguised attack from Zappa. The hidden meaning in the title mirrors the hidden or lost purposes behind many surviving artifacts from ancient civilizations. In the context of the Incas, the closest thing to writing that they possessed was the quipu, a system of knotted strings. Whilst only capable of storing statistics it would serve as an aid to the shared memory recounted between generations. However, only certain trained individuals were able to interpret these quipus, thus history was documented from a certain point of view, that of the ruling class.
The wholesale destruction of the archives of the quipus by the crusading padres in the seventeenth century (in their zeal to stamp out idoltry, believing naively that the quipus were books of the devil) and the gradual dying out of the rememberers, the interpreters of the quipus, were the twin disasters of Andean history. With the destruction of one and the passing of the other there was lost that history of the whole Andean area which now can be bridged only by archaeology. The quipus found in graves tell nothing; they are only lifeless strings. 173
Ink erodes also attacks the written word, the literary form Dniken participates in, comparing the permanence of the Nazca Lines with the short-lived writings of the author. Lyrical Form Inca Roads does not conform to the conventional verse/chorus structure of popular song and furthermore the lyrics do not have regular rhythmic structure and rhyme. Zappa takes the setting of a particular genre, having learned the required rules and norms, then
172 173
Hagen, W. von, The Ancient Sun Kingdoms of the Americas, (Cologne, 1962), 234. ibid., 317. 39
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa purposefully deviates from them. Zappa was always seeking progress with his music, in this case by abandoning the structural norms of popular lyric writing. The lyrics as presented in the One Size Fits All liner notes, as reproduced below, appear as much like prose as poetry or song lyrics. ! !
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Did a vehicle Come from somewhere out there Just to land in the Andes? Was it round And did it have A motor Or was it Something Different Did a vehicle Did a vehicle Did a vehicle Fly along the mountains And nd a place to park itself Or did someone Build a place Or leave a space For such a thing to land.
The melody line, which I describe as Vocal Theme or VT, (see gure 1 over page), plays as one continuous, evolving melody over the stable drum, bass and marimba vamp. The melody does not t the natural speech patterns of the lyrics, and along with the antipoetic lyrics the result could be termed anti-lyric.174 Anti-lyric implies the division of songwriting labour175 resulting in a lack of unity between lyric and music, a divided relationship visible within Zappa, working both as a musical composer and cultural satirist separately. By using this technique of anti-lyric Zappa is drawing attention to the meaning of the lyrics as prose.
Within anti-lyric, the emphasis of a song shifts away from its sonorous rhyme towards the detail of its statement, away from rectitude of rhyme and rhythm towards the novelty or interest of words and ideas. 176
174
Grifths, Dai, From lyric to anti-lyric: analyzing the words in pop song, in Analyzing Popular Music, ed. Moore, Allan F (Cambridge, 2003), 42.
175 176
ibid., 54.
Grifths, Dai, From lyric to anti-lyric: analyzing the words in pop song, in Analyzing Popular Music, ed. Moore, Allan F (Cambridge, 2003), 55. 40
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Figure 1
41
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa The lyrics have little connection to the instrumental vamp underneath them and stand alone as a means for countercultural satire. Lyrics are not the prime focus for Zappa.
I dont have any pretensions about being a poet. My lyrics are there purely for entertainment purposes only - not to be taken seriously. Some of them are truly stupid, some are slightly less stupid and [a] few of them are sort of funny. Apart from the snide political stuff, which I enjoy writing, the rest of the lyrics wouldnt exist at all if it werent for the fact that we live in a society where instrumental music is irrelevant - so if a guy expects to earn a living by providing musical entertainment for folks in the U.S.A., hed better gure out how to do something with a human voice plopped on it.177
Zappa argues that his lyrics should not be taken seriously, that they should disregarded and all focus should be on the music. He implies that the music is the reason for the song, and he does not want lyrics to get in the way of his music. Whilst some of his lyrics are outwardly silly they still have a message behind them. Even on debut album Freak Out!, by scratching away the strange and silly surface of songs like Hungry Freaks, Daddy178 and Who Are The Brain Police?179 , a critique of Americas cultural revolution is revealed. Despite his statement that his lyrics are not signicant, they play a signicant part in the construction of the meanings attached to his music, although as this process often involves satire, the meanings are often the opposite of what they rst appear to be. Zappa had a lot to say, one only has to read one of his many interviews or his account of his battle with the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)180 who sought to censor popular music lyrics, to see this. However it is clear that the lyrics are not the centre of his work, although profanity, humour, satire, political commentary and attacks on countercultural clichs are further examples of his conceptual continuity Humour & Self-Referentiality As discussed, Zappas music tends to fall into one of two categories, serious and complex instrumentally focused music, and simpler, often humourous, lyric led music. As he states in the All About Music chapter of his book,
Some of the stuff I write is in the musically uncompromising boy-is-this-ever-hard-to-play category. Then theres the other category - songs in which intrigue lies in the lyrics, rather than
177 178 179 180
Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 185. The Mothers Of Invention, Hungry Freaks Daddy, Freak Out!, Rykodisc 10501 (1967). ibid., Who Are The Brain Police? Zappa, Frank, Porn Wars, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 261-291. 42

the music. If a piece intends to actually tell a story, I dont build an elaborate accompaniment because it gets in the way of the words.181
Simpler, lyric led songs, particularly those based around the humourous or profane such as Dinah Moe Humm182 tend to limit musical adventurousness to bring the lyric to the fore. Valley Girl,183 is a further example, his most commercially successful single. It again is very simple musically, comprising almost entirely of two riffs, one for the verse and one for the chorus. The music is simply to underpin the satirical monologue by Zappas eldest daughter Moon Unit, lampooning the language and image of the Valley Girl culture. The songs success however, popularised the valley girl stereotype across the country, somewhat undermining Zappas critique. The tracks success came as a surprise, the band had just returned from a European Tour and were oblivious to its rapid popularity. Zappa has discussed the reasons behind its success.
There are a couple of things about "Valley Girl" being a hit: First, it's not my fault - they didn't buy that record because it had my name on it. They bought it because they liked Moon's voice. It's got nothing to do with the song or the performance. It has everything to do with the American public wanting to have some new syndrome to identify with. And they got it. There it is. That's what made it a hit. Hits are not necessarily musical phenomena. But as far as my feeling about it goes, I think that if that amuses Americans, well, hey! I'm an all-American boy, and I'm here to perform that function for you.184
Inca Roads represents a combination of seriousness and humour. It is musically complex with a simple humourous lyric. The nal section of Inca Roads, after the keyboard solo, showcases the combination of seriousness and humour, starting at letter [S] (see gure 2 over page), after the keyboard solo and marimba cadenza. The vocal reprises a transformed version of the vocal theme (VT - gure 1) as will be explained in the next section. The nal section of lyrics is the same as the opening section of the whole song, however the words vehicle and it are transplanted with booger-bear and she respectively. Zappa liberally reuses a small amount of original material to arrange the track.
181 182
ibid., 182.
Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Dinah Moe Humm, Over-Nite Sensation. Rykodisc 10518 (1973).
183
Frank Zappa, Valley Girl, Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch, Rykodisc 10537 (1982).
184
Mulhern, Tom, Not Exactly Duane Allman, Guitar Player, (February 1983). 43
The effect of these slight changes is to shift the subject matter of the song to reference an in-joke about the booger-bear award. This was presented onstage to the band member who had slept with the ugliest groupie at the time, as the lyrics go on to reveal, drummer Chester Thompson earned this accolade. By changing it to she Zappa uses the same description of the alien craft to describe the groupie, who by association was evidently so ugly she was alien in appearance. This groupie is later referred to as Chesters Gorilla in Florentine Pogen185 which opens the second side of the album. Zappas postmodern referentiality to in-jokes from the band on tour recalls the Filmore East - Live 1971 186 album and forms part of his Project/Object philosophy, such references forming part of the conceptual continuity of his work.
185
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, Florentine Pogen, One Size Fits All, Rykodisc 10521 (1975).
186
The Mothers, Filmore East - June 1971, Rykodisc 10512 (1971). 44

Did a booger-bear, Come from somewhere out there, Just to land in the Andes? Was she round, And did she have a motor, Or was she something different?
Zappa goes on to twist the lyrics towards sex by again replacing words in lyrics from earlier in the track, changing such a thing to Chesters Thing.
Or did someone build a place, Or leave a space, For Chesters Thing to land.
By changing a single word Zappa is writing explicitly about sex, a favorite topic, implying the groupie is the landing space for Chesters Thing. The Gorilla became part of the live show of the 1974 band, during which a crew member would enter the stage in a gorilla suit or mask. This can be seen on the live concert lm The Dub Room Special.187 This lm consists partly of the live KCET television performance from which recordings of Inca Roads and Florentine Pogen were later taken. Such lyrics, set to a complex, angular melody that is particularly hard to sing (gure 2), demonstrates that whilst Zappa can be outwardly simple at times, there are often several levels of meaning written in, comprehensible only to fans well versed in Zappas work. This illustrates his underlying stream of complexity that through referentiality to his wider working world, helps to unify is body of work as a whole, to create his conceptual continuity. Another example of this self-referentiality is the lyric Guacamole Queen. ! !
! ! ! Guacamole Queen Guacamole Queen Guacamole Queen At the Armadillo in Austin, Texas her aura.
According to online fan community www.arf.ru a place where FZ fans could be entertained by amateur efforts of scholarly oriented tovarischis,188 the Guacamole Queen was a
187 188
Zappa, Frank, dir., The Dub Room Special, (1982). http://www.arf.ru/About/index.html. 45
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa woman named Rikki who baked giant cookies and nachos, containing guacamole, for the Armadillo World Headquarters venue in Austin, Texas.189 Prior live recordings of the track consequently do not contain the following line.
! At the Armadillo in Austin, Texas, her Aura.
The track has developed over time, further levels of depth being added during its development during live performance. By including this reference in the album recording, Zappa is highlighting his compositional process, the track developed on the road, and he is combining humour and self-referentiality over complex metrical content. By providing a further level of detail within the Project/Object, incorporating his experiences into the music, every action he takes, whether in composition, on tour, or during interviews, is part of his body of work and these elements can and should inform each other. In this way his live performances become integrated with, and linked to, his recorded work.
Polyrhythms & Rhythmic Confusion Much of Zappas music is characterised by rhythmic complexity and displays his connection to contemporary classical music. However, he takes these techniques and applies them to popular music pushing the boundaries of the genre. This is seen within Inca Roads in the use of polyrhythms to create rhythmic confusion and break up predictable grooves. The opening lyric section is the most prominent example of this, a slow etherial melody over a stable vamp, is interrupted by a musical and vocal interjection at [C]. A confused vocal conversation ensues (gure 3 over page),
George: Sure was different. I ain't never seen nothing like that in my entire life! Napoleon: Whose python boot is that? That ain't my sh-- Wha? FZ: Why don't you sharpen it then? George: Little round ball . . . I could . . . couldn't . . . That-a white cain't do nothin' Napoleon: Je-he-zus! FZ: Mother Mary and Jozuf!
The overlapping vocal outbursts, which due to unpredictable natural speech rhythms create complex polyrhythms between parts, are intercut with more precise instrumental gestures played with precision on drums, bass and marimba. This lopsided call and
189
One Size Fits All, Inca Roads, Notes & Comments, http://www.arf.ru/Notes/Osfa/ inca.html. 46
! ## Lead Vocals !
Backing Vocals ! ( "
Spoken word. Pitches are not intented to be accurate. Aim is to show apporximate vocal flow.
$ # # % & #
was
# # # & ##
aint' ne -
' # & #
ver seen
Sure
diff - rent. I
' #
Whose
#
py
# # #
thon
boot is
# #
) $ & #$ #
that?
! # # # !
2
' # # &#
that in
##
my
' # #
en -tire
#' ( *
life.
+ "
no - thin' like
* # # # ! # # " % , # Why don't
That aint' you shar -
' % #$ #$# & #$ % ( # &# % ( # # % # - # , ,

pen my it shi... then?
WHA?
! ( !
4
Lit - tle
# ,
# %
#
round
# ' #
% & #
he
#
ball.
$ ' # & # #
I could.
% (
) $ & #
Could
* "!
&
' #
zus!
Je
5 ' ! ! # # &( ( # # # &# # # # # &# #
" " # # # # # # # &# # % *

Mo -ther Ma - ry and Jo - zuf!
n't.
That -a white
+ ! " (
Uerhhh..
* # -
Heee!
#' ( *
cain't
do
no - thin'.
* # Ah
response between vocals and instruments, as a complete section [C]190, breaks the ow of the melody and also the predictability of the accompaniment that comes before it.
190
Please see Appendix C - Section [C] is too extensive to t within the body of the text. 47
% Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa
Inca Roads was recorded live at KCET television during the production of a special program, much of which can be seen on The Dub Room Special.191 The mix from the TV performance differs from the release on the album One Size Fits All, in that there are some additional parts played that were omitted from the album arrangement during the mixing and editing process. The video footage points to an interesting performance element, signies art music music, it departs from the expected image and behavior of a rock Ld. Vox musician. By using the technique in the connes of a rock performance Zappa is
George Duke
Sure was
Zappa uses29 his C hands to conduct the band during this section [C]. The act of Aim is conducting to show apporximate vocal flow
Spoken word. Pitches are not intented t
! !
$ $
.#
+ . . * 1. . .
diff - rent.
highlighting the division between elite and popular. Once again he is an outsider existing between two distinct and often oppositional musical worlds. Bk. Vox Figure 4
) . .
.. .
thon
! Mar. "!
Napoleon Murphy Brock Whose
py
ff
%%%)
%3% % )
3
3% % % % $
%%% $
%%% $ $
E. Gtr
! $
Conduct band.
$ $
Bass
, " % % % % % % % %3% %
ff
6 3
3% % 4%3% % 5% %
3
Drums
6 6 6 6 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % % % % % % % % 6 %
7 7 5
Bar 29 (gure 4) is the rst occurrence of Zappas use of polyrhythms. By using a polyrhythm of 7 against 6 at the start of section [C], the rhythmic stability employed up to this point is destroyed. Whilst Zappa conducts a steady 4/4 through the whole section (as indicated on the score), a complex polyrhythm is formed between the marimba, bass and drum parts. Through the rst half of the bar, the drums play septuplets. The grouping of seven is unusual within a rock music context, and it creates a sense of acceleration as one more note is tted into the beat compared to the generally expected sextuplet grouping
191
Zappa, Frank, dir., The Dub Room Special, (1982). 48
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa played by the bass. This irregular grouping is a typical feature of Zappas music. The irregularity of the septuplet phrase is highlighted when played with the bass, which plays normal sextuplets. The rhythmic confusion here severs the regular pulse of the track, before dropping into unison semiquavers for the third beat of the bar. The nal beat of the bar sees the drums now juxtaposed against the marimba, which plays sextuplets whilst the drums play a quintuplet grouping. The overall effect of these polyrhythms across the whole bar is to push and pull the main pulse and groove. The bar seems to accelerate for the rst two beats, particularly on beat two, as it is the back beat, before settling down to regular, rigidity on beat three. Finally on beat four the groove seems to slow as the drums pull against the marimba and bass. By inserting this whole section, [C], into a standard rock groove Zappa was highlighting the compositional incongruity between classical and popular music approaches. Zappa was interested in the rhythms of speech and often incorporated their rhythmic approach into melody lines and most frequently, guitar solos, his solos are where most often complex polyrhythms occur in his music. He instructed his band to play a stable vamp over which he could explore rhythmically, he tried to talk through his instrument.
I think that's the most direct way to communicate with somebody, using speech rhythms. That really makes a big difference. Because, if you listen to a guy playing nice neat scale patterns and things like that, no matter how skillful he is in making his stuff land on the beat, you always hear it as Music capital "M" music lines, chord changes, and stuff like that. Real studied. But if you want to get beyond music into emotional content, you have to break through that and just talk on your instrument, just make it talk. And if you're gonna make it talk, you have to be aware that there's a different rhythmic attitude you have to adopt in order to do that. 192
Many of these rhythms look unnatural, for example The Black Page #2193 which uses nested tuplets such as a half note triplet which in turn contains tuplets of ve, ve and six respectively on each beat of the overall triplet (gure 5 over page). However when listening to these rhythms, they usually sound far more natural than they look. The inuence of speech rhythms is usually indirect, the instruments are not using rhythms formed directly from words, there is no script, the instruments sound like they are trying to talk without words.
192 193
Milkowski, Bill, Frank Zappa: Guitar Player, Down Beat, (Feb, 1983). Frank Zappa, The Black Page #2, Zappa in New York, Rykodisc 10524/25 (1978). 49
* The Black Page, Keyboard, (February, 1987).
A common way to learn polyrhythms is by using verbal phrases to teach the correct rhythm. The phrases not difcult, what atrocious weather, and drink up your beer come on please, can be used to learn polyrhythms of 3 against 2, 4 against 3, and 5 against 3 respectively. Below is a series of polyrhythms displayed using the Time Unit Box System, where each box is a xed unit of time derived from the lowest common denominator of the two opposing units. Polyrhythms cannot simply be divided into conventional note values, such as crotchet, quaver, and semiquaver divisions, as they divide as unique fractions dependent on the note groupings being played simultaneously. 7 over 6 shows the complexity of the polyrhythm from gure 4. 3 2 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
NOT DIFFICULT (6ths) 4 3 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
WHAT ATROCIOUS WEATHER (12ths)
5 X 3 X
X X
X X
X X
X X
X X
DRINK UP YOUR BEER COME ON PLEASE (15ths) 50
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa 7X 6X X X X X X X X X X X X
Each box represents 1/42nd (7x6) of the whole group eg, 1 crotchet.
5 X 6 X X
X X
X X 30ths
X X
X X
He later experimented extensively with complex and nested polyrhythms when working with the Synclavier in the 1980s as it allowed his to recreated these rhythms with reliable precision.
Most of my compositions today are written on and performed by a machine - a computer musical instrument called the Synclavier. It allows me to create and record a type of music that is impossible (or too boring) for humans beings to play. Anything you can dream up can be typed or played into the Synclavier. One of the things I use it for is writing blocks of complicated rhythms, and having them executed accurately by groups of instruments. 194
By using complex polyrhythms, Zappa is highlighting the musical merit and potential complexity of popular music by combining techniques from both musical worlds. In the context of Inca Roads, the band, itself a combination of people opposing musical backgrounds, seamlessly switches from a conventional repeating riff, to a complex polyrhythmic instrumental and vocal outburst. It is a vivid contrast that shatters the regularity of the previous passage and highlights both the detail of Zappas composition and his musicians ability to realise it.
Transformation Zappa generates new sections of the track through the transformation of material introduced in the opening section, VT. The key technique Zappa uses in Inca Roads for this purpose is to take an existing melody, keep the melodic pitch structure, and apply it to
194
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa a straight semiquaver rhythm. Thus VT (gure 6) becomes VT* (gure 7) through rhythmic transformation. Figure 6
17
VT (Vocal Theme)
(
B $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ %&' $ ! $
' $ $
Was mf
$ $ $ $ $ $! $ $ $ $ ) &%
Just f to land in the An - des?
Did a ve - hi - cle come from some where out there. mf
22
!
26
$! $!
it round
and did
$ $! $ $ $ $! %
it have
$ $! $ ' %
a mo - tor.
$ $
Or
! $!
was mp
$ $ %
it
$
some
$ $! %
thing
$!
diff f -
$ $ '!
er - ent. mf
29
"
$ $ $ $ + '
$ (
$ $$ $ $ $ $$ $$$ )
3
Did a f
ve - hi - cle.
Did a ve -hi - cle. Did a ve -hi- cle. mf
39
$! ! ) $ $ $
Fly mf
$ *$ $
$ $ $ *$ ,$ *$ ,$ ,$
and find a place to park it f
a - long
the moun tains f ff
& & $ $$ ' %

self. mf
43
& - .$ $ /
Or f
$ .$
$ ! $ ! .$ $ $ $
place
did some - one build a
49
! $ *$ .$ !
,$ $
a
,$ $
space,
$! $ $ - %
for such a f
$ *$ $ ,' !
to land.
to leave
thing
52

286
)
287
Did
+
a
boo - ger - bear come from some - where
+
out
+
to
+
land
+
in
+
the
! "
there. Just
)! "+ ) $% $&
+ +
An - des? Was
# $% + + + " $& + + + + + + + + + + + + + she round and did she have a mo - tor, or was she some -thing diff - erent.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
289
Gua - ca - mo - le
+ +
! " % ' & '
Queen. Gua - ca - mo - le
Queen. Qua - ca - mo - le
Queen.
290
! )" % )' & )'
At
the
Arm - a
+
- dill
+
- o
+ ,+ -+ .+ ,+
in Aus - tin Tex - as,
here
+ .+
au -
.+
ra,
291
-+
or
+
did
-+ ,+ .+ + + -+ + .+ ,+ + -+ + + .+ , + some - one build a place, or leave a space for Ches - ter's thing to land. *
+ + + + + + + + + The accents, and therefore the time signatures, of this + new+passage VT*, are dened by + + +
a
292
$$ $&
a boo - ger - bear come from some -where out there. the lyrical content attached to the Did melody, and thus bars, or points of emphasis, are
294 at intelligible points in the lyric, resulting in unusual time signatures. This places divided
+ by groupings ) importance on individual notes, as the melody is + different given new shape + + + + + formed by the lyrics. This reduces the intelligibility of the lyrics. Zappa often uses speech
Did boo
ger
bear
come
from
some - where
out
there.
rhythms as a rhythmic source, unusual groupings and polyrhythms surfacing in melodic 295 T lines as a result. -+ + + ! -+ + & ( ' +
If Did a musical point can beon made a more entertaining the In di - ans, first the in bill. Carve up herway hill. by saying a word than by singing a word, the spoken word will win out in the arrangement.195
-+ ,+ .+ +
/ $& +
-+
"
'
'
299
' )'
'
1 2 34 3
f
On Ruth!
1 2 34 3 5 1 2 3 3 1 2 34 3 0
3 On Ruth!
ff
Ah - ha.
That's Ruth!
195
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Zappa is dissolving the Verbal Space,196 as Dai Grifths puts it, of the original vocal theme.
Verbal Space is the pop songs basic compromise: the words agree to work within the spaces of tonal musics phrases, and the potential expressive intensity of the musics melody is held back for the sake of the clarity of verbal communication.197
The music is compromised to enhance the intelligibility of the lyrics in the opening section [B], but this is inverted later [S], where the lyrical intelligibility is compromised to facilitate musical exploration. Understanding of language is as much based on the natural rhythm of speech as on the words themselves. Whilst lyrics have different rhythms to speech, they tend to retain a rhythmic similarity. Here Zappa is playing with such conventions in his transformations by removing rhythmic variations that suit the lyrics, he sets the lyrics to rigid semiquavers. Zappa introduces this technique briey during the middle section of the track at [K] (gure 8), using a shortened version of the melody. At [K] the lyrics from the start of the song are reintroduced but set to the semiquaver rhythm. This section adds new material to VT adding the lines Did the Indians rst on the bill, Carve up the hill, to create VT*+ as illustrated in appendix A. Figure 8
When his transformation is applied, the rst line of the original verse, plus did a vehicle from the second, ts perfectly into a bar of 4/4, with the word come falling on the
196
Grifths, Dai, From lyric to anti-lyric: analyzing the words in pop song, in Analyzing Popular Music, ed. Moore, Allan F (Cambridge, 2003), 43.
197
ibid. 54
words themselves. Whilst lyrics naturally have different rhythms to speech they tend to retain a rhythmic similarity between their speech form and lyric form in the melody. Here Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Zappa is pushing the traditional rules of a lyrical melody to the extremes of convention and downbeat of the next bar adding emphasis. Due to the natural breaks in the lyrical ow, demonstrates the inuence of contemporary classical forms, such as serialism, on his the drums and bass accent the words, did, ve, come, out, Did, and ve (gure 9). work. Figure 9 21
166
Ld. Vox
&
f
Did
*
a
*
ve -
hi
cle
come
Bass
' * +
f
Drums
15 %
mf
, *
*$ *
*$
*
from
* *$
*
out
some - where
*
there.
Did
*
a
*
ve -
hi
cle.
, -
/$
* + * 0 *
, .
,1 *
*$
2 , .
$ ' 3 the deconstructs

Bass
! ) during # Zappa ' introduces this technique)briey the track [K], using a +) ,)section ) * Ld. Vox 167 ) middle *) of) the,) " $ ) ) ) ) , ) This gives the impression of a compound time signature of 5/16 + 6/16 + 5/16, before !! 5 full, Ld.shortened Vox & version the -melody restating in lyrics, !" At the of Arm a - dill before o in Aus -the tin melody Tex - as, here with au modied - ra, 3 natural 4/4 as the line ends with 4 come for two bars. The accents from the returning to a during theCome, nal section [S]. At [K] the ) lyrics)from start reintroduced but set ) *) + ) of the ,) song *) are ,) ) ) ! ) # the ) points of the melody when compared to the lyrics drums accentuate different in ) ) the Bk. Vox ' " $Vocal to the semiquaver rhythm. This section is the only addition of new material ,to , , , , , , , tin , Tex vamp , !! , , , 0 At .asthe . 0 stable . 5 and , , , E. Gtr opening section, there, part are Arm they -0 a play - dill -, o of the in Aus , - backing - as, here au disconnected - ra, , & , , !" , , , , Theme adding the lines ! Did the Indians rst on the bill, Carve up the hill, " to create VT*+ 6 6 6 from the vocal in melody. Even as illustrated appendix A. when working with what on paper is a 4/4 bar Zappa
Did a rhythm vehicle come somewhere out there? semiquaver also from transforms the tone of the lyrical line completely, originally Did a vehicle come, 291 ' somewhere ) 0 some . 2 0 . 2moves Timpani Fromtone, out there. speculative the emphasis on the words where out there. +) It** # ) * ,) to Ld. Vox Did ' the ) rst on ) ,) * * *) ) +) $ Indians ) the bill, + ) ) specics + )the ) ,) demanding tone, rapid-re, on as the vehicle. 2 1 * ) ) such Carve hill.some - onefocusing ,up or did build a place, or leave a 2 space for Ches - ter's thing to land.
Drums
290
4 compound time. 5The shift to a straight !! regular meter to work in
it has a
!"
!! * * !" 0 . * *$ +) +) *) ,) 196 ibid. ) ) , ) * ) ) ) + ) # +transformed % The complete in ) ) melody VT*) is *introduced ,) instrumental form but played much Bk. Vox ' $ ) ) $ 44 %
( 5 0 . * *
Ld. Vox $
!! a% more !"
$
faster at [L] and also includes of [G] at gure or did some - one build a sped a place, up or repetition leave a space for Ches [M] - ter's (see thing to land. 10) before
169the lyrics at [S]. This extended instrumental section at [L], despite appearing rst restoring
Figure 10
$ Drums
"6 - $ 03 0 . # *) ) # ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) * ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ff !! 4 " 3 . 0 3 # ) Piano 3 3 3 # & !" 4 3 3 . . % / / . . . . . . . .# . . . Perc. ( $ . . . . . . 7 * 7* * * 2 * " *$ ' !! ff* $ * * . Bass * * * * !" # 6
6
! 292 !! Mar. ! !" "& % Moog 1 ' " $
!! . & !"
from
some - where
out
there.
* *
6
Did the
7* * * * " * * 7* * * # * 7* * * *
In - di - ans, first on the bill, carve up the hill.
ff
* * $ && % &%
&& &%
$ %
$ % $ % $ %55
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. .
,1 0
. , . *
, *
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*$
,$ *$
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' ' (
it
'
chronologically, was created from the lyrics in the nal section (gure 7), the phrasing in some - thing version diff is based er -fundamentally ent. the instrumental on the articulation of the lyrics, whether they are present or not. The development of the structure of Inca Roads can be
' '! (
'!
' ' *!
mf
ot intented to be accurate. melody to adapt it to the rapid re, semiquaver version. e vocal flow.
3 . /0-
regarding the choice of note. Any melodic change, if the strict rhythmical version (VT*) is t' ne -ver seen no - thin' like that in my en -tire life. taken as the control, in VT, is due to small vocal ourishes or ornaments on individual
1 - ! - -1 ! -1 1 ! 0- ! - 0-0 ) ) , + ! ! differences between the two Comparing VT and VT* (gures 6 and 7), there are few
unravelled, and Zappas process is evident in the small changes applied to the original
1 " - - 0) ) - - - 0 - - -- - 0- - & ! required in the transformed version as each line runs uidly into the next. With only drum
words at the end of lines which fall on natural breaks in the music. Any deviation may have conform to the harmony of the underpinning music. Furthermore the natural improvisation
been improvised by the performer and brings a natural resolve to a line. Resolution is not accompaniment, the melody harmonically and thus has no need to n't. That -a white cain'tline dois self no contained - thin'. of an accomplished singer may be the reason behind melodic ornamentation such as on self at the end of bar 41 continuing into bar 42 (gure 11). The same reasoning applies to the naturalistic gliding between notes over a melodic leap, it is almost a singers 3 prerogative add these of expression at their discretion, particularly in popular Did a ve to - hi - cle. Did elements a ve - hi - cle. music.
Could
!+ !
''''' '' ' ' ' '
mf
11 ' ' Figure 4' ' 6' 4' ' 6' ) ) ' ' ' * (
, &
and find a place to park it
self.
mf
Only the four bar section at [E] (gure 12 over page) is completely omitted from the the melody VT*, a short call and response between the
4' ' 6' ' ' ) , ( ( transformed ( (version of

se -
instrumentalists and the vocalists where the vocal part itself is further split between the e - elf. lead and backing vocals. The backing vocals reinforce the statement Park it. Park it in a comically gruff manner. This section, like the polyrhythmic break and spoken word section at [C] as described earlier, functions primarily to break up the owing melody and repetitive groove of the opening section of the track. It is representative of Zappas impatience, a need for near constant progression and change. Zappas use of transformation and rules to adapt and create new material demonstrates the inuence of classical music on his compositional process. 56

43
11
E
Ld. Vox
Mar.
Piano
#!
! "!
! % % % ' ' *%
3 3
" % % % ' + % "

3
&% % % % % ' + %
3
, % % % % $$
'
Park
it
' &% (
se
% )% (
e
% (
elf.
ff
" . "
ff
&% % % % '
ff
Bass
# '
ff
Drums
$
45
ff
% / 0 % / ' % ( ' ' % (

3
% %
3
'
+
3
% % 0 '
' % / ' % (
+
3
% % 0 '
' % / ' % (
% % ,$ 0 '
/ %
Ld. Vox
! % ( !
'
"
.
Gruffly
" *%
ff
Bk. Vox
Mar.
! "!
# $
47
% &% % % % % % % % 2 % % 2 2 2 % % % % % %
3
% % % % % % %
3
Park
1 %
it.
' "
'
Park
1 %
it.
Bass
Figure 13
Ld. Vox
Drums
% % % 2 % % 2 % % 2 2 % % % % % % %
3
% 2 2 % %$
build
*% / % *% %
a
1 % % %
'
' ' '
% / %
1 % 1 % % ( 1 &%
to
Mar.
! "!
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' % %
+ *% % 3
Or
%
did
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some
%$
%
place
%$ ' '
%%
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'
' '
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# % % '
f
+ 4 ' % % % % % % % + 4 % % % ' % % % %
% %
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% % '
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+ 4 1 % % , + 4 1 % % ,
' '
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mf
/ / / 0 0 / / % / / %$ / % %$ % '$ % %$ % % % 3
/ / / / % %$ % '
/ % % % % % % % % % -
V.S.
57
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa A nal example of Zappa transforming a melody line is with guacamole queen, a late addition to the track as discussed earlier. To create the melody for guacamole queen He transforms three bars from [D] and also drops the pitch by an octave (see gure 13). Did a vehicle, did a vehicle, did a vehicle, is reworked to create bar 288, Guacamole Queen, Guacamole Queen, Guacamole Queen, three groups of ve semiquavers forming a bar of 15/16. At [D] (gure 13), Zappa uses the repeating line Did a vehicle?, to explore different rhythmic variations of the group of ve which is later presented in straight form with guacamole queen. Did a vehicle in speech is a natural group of ve equal length beats, which like Guacamole Queen, when expressed in normal speech, has a naturally straight rhythm to it. However Zappa deviates from the natural rhythm exploring three seperate variants of the same melodic phrase. The rhythmic variations are as follows: rst a straight crotchet version set on the beat in 5/4, followed by a straight semiquaver version identical to Guacamole Queen, and nally a shift away from the regular rhythm to two semiquavers followed by a quaver triplet. The effect of the nal variation, is creating a polyrhythm with the accompaniment, this gives the illusion of slowing down.
Polyrhythms are only interesting in reference to a steady, metronomic beat (implied or actual) otherwise youre just wallowing in rubato.198
In Zappas use of transformation and variation, creating new material by adapting and reusing existing material he highlights his knowledge of classical music norms. Even on a small scale as in the did a vehicle example where he expands simple material through variation, Zappa seeks to extract as much mileage from key themes as possible. Transformation and variation of this kind are not particularly common in popular music, Zappa therefore appears to be blurring the distinctions between two musical worlds by applying the conventions of one to another.
Challenging Virtuosity Inca Roads highlights the inuence of classical music on Zappa through instrumental parts designed to highlight the virtuosity of musicians in his band. Like a concerto, a work
198
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa in which a solo instrument(s) is contrasted and blended with the orchestra.199 ,Inca Roads can be roughly split into three different movements, plus a short written cadenza for solo marimba. An important development of concerto form were the cadenza sections in which the soloist could display his skill by extemporization.200 Like more recent concerti, Zappas uses a composed cadenza, a signicant change [to the form] since the 19th Century.201 The soloist in this case is Ruth Underwood playing the marimba. Two extended solo sections for guitar and keyboards are similar to the older style of cadenza as they are improvised. However, stylistically, they owe more to Zappas Jazz and Blues inuences. A popular form, Jazz represents a conuence of African and European music, and differs from European music in its uid, spontaneous approach to time, drawing upon the same compound rhythms that we have seen in Zappas music. The marimba cadenza [R] (gure 14 over page) is a further example of Inca Roads demonstrating Zappas art/popular musical dualism. The 4 bar marimba cadenza at [R] is signicant in its reuse of material from earlier in the track, reproducing note for note, the 7/16 section at [O] at double original speed. This is an example of information that only became clear during transcription. This unaccompanied section highlights the virtuosity of marimba player Ruth Underwood. It also has distinct similarities to Rollo Interior202 demonstrating yet again Zappas ideas of conceptual continuity. A similarly virtuosic marimba passage falls at the end of the song, performed in unison with the drums. It bears similarities to the classic improvised rock track ending, where performers tend to play as-fast-as-possible in an instrumental ourish to end the piece, something of a rock clich that has become part of popular musical coding. However in this case, Zappa has again written out the part specically, a fast run down marimba then vibraphone, facilitated by the instruments layout onstage, lined up one after the other so the performer can play off the bottom end of the marimba into the top of the vibraphone (see gure 15). The passage has the same function as the rock ending clich, similarly
199
Kennedy, Michael, ed., Concise Dictionary of Music, (Oxford, 1952, 1996, 4th Edition), 156-157.
200 201 202
ibid.! ibid.
Frank Zappa, Rollo Interior, movement in, St. Alphonsos Pancake Breakfast, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974). 59

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overlapping vocals, by restating a key theme from earlier. It highlights the scope of the the virtuosity of the musician in an obvious way to the average listener, to whom, as is often the case in rock music, the speed at which a musician can play is equatable to a
293 measurable, and impressive, level of skill.
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Thats okay. They should all get The Blow Job but they get come it the honest way Did a boo -ger bear come from some where out - there. Did ashould boo - ger -bear from some - where outthey there. should earn it, by playing the songs right. Sometimes they try to cheat...and, folks, it is not a pretty sight. 204
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Such passages as [M] (gure 10) can be seen as legitimate showboating within the piece, as they have been prearranged and stem from existing material. Zappa is performing his role as bandleader, maintaining corporate discipline205 within the band by providing such material. It reinforces Zappas standpoint that his hybrid classical/rock band is capable of the accessible rock music displays of virtuosity, but that they need control by regimented discipline, again crossing the boundaries between musical idioms. Similarity to Progressive Rock: a Classical Inuence. Inca Roads displays many other examples of Zappas classical inuence, particularly in the structural development of the piece as will be discussed later. This classical inuence points to key similarities with progressive rock. Zappas broader classical inuence, and particularly that of contemporary classical music, manifests itself through extended, yet fractured, frequently shifting melodic lines, unusual time signatures and changing tempos
203 204 205
Zappa, Frank, Road Rats, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 168-170. ibid., 169.! ibid. 62
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa between sections. These techniques are common in progressive rock, however Zappa does not sound like a progressive rock band, nor is he usually described as such. The fast 7/16 section at [O], played in tight unison, bears the greatest resemblance to progressive rock. This is primarily because the synthesizer is at the fore, playing the main melody line. The synthesizers prominence is similar to British progressive rock bands such as Yes and Genesis, in which, formally trained keyboard players Rick Wakeman and Tony Banks were particularly prominent. This section of Inca Roads, [O], is similar to the extended Genesis composition Firth of Fifth.206 The track, based primarily on themes written by Banks, has a middle section [4:34-5:46] played on synthesizer which, like Inca Roads, encompasses unusual time signatures of 13/16 and 15/16 when it deviates from a standard 4/4. Whilst Firth of Fifth dwells on the same repeated melody without deviation for over a minute, Zappa limits his similar melody to a single playing and moves on. Unlike progressive rock however, where long compositions tend to display their classical inuence through strict use of typical classical structure. For example Close to the Edge 207 by Yes is [18:43] long, is structured in sonata form, and uses orchestral instrumental sounds, which highlights its classical inuence and the intrinsic sophistication associated with it. Zappas classical inuence is more subtle, not sticking rigidly to a recognisable form. He tends to construct songs containing multiple parts and ideas which often have very little to do with one another. Structurally they borrow from neither classical or popular idioms. Complex pieces such as Inca Roads, showcase Zappas belief that you should write for yourself. The Ultimate Rule ought to be: If it sounds GOOD to YOU, its bitchen; and if it sounds BAD to YOU, its shitty.208 What makes them popular rather than classical, is often hard to pinpoint in a Zappa track, they are songs, in large part, because Zappa says they are.209 Zappa combined elements from different pieces to create new ones, taking a melody from song A and a solo from song B and perhaps placing that song (call it C) in a context of
206 207 208 209
Genesis, Firth of Fifth, Selling England by the Pound, (1973). Yes, Close to the Edge, Close to the Edge, (1972). Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 188. Lowe, Kelly Fisher, The Words and Music of Frank Zappa, (Nebraska, 2007), 7. 63
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa other songs creating a meaning that can be called D.210 This is an example of his attempts to create threads of conceptual continuity in his work, alluding to classical composers viewed for their body of work. A live solo from Inca Roads for example is reused and set to a Latin/Disco theme, of entirely different beat and melodic structure to Inca Roads to create a new song called On the Bus. Zappa is here using his technique of xenochrony
211
in which various elements of different performances, from completely different sources,
are melded together to create a new piece of music. Zappa draws upon classical music techniques, but integrated other ideas because as he put it, I nd music from the classical period boring because it reminds me of painting by numbers.212
Improvisation
Franks solos were like sonic sculptures, he never did the same thing twice, unless it was a melody line that was integral to the song. - Steve Vai213
Inca Roads contains two extended, improvised solos. The rst is a guitar solo performed by Zappa himself, the latter a keyboard solo mainly on Rhodes piano and synthesiser, played by George Duke. Both solos highlight the symbiotic relationship developed between the band members in their tenure in the band. The full version of the guitar solo can be heard on the live album of the Helsinki concert, You Cant Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2.214 215 The guitar solo is improvised over a simple vamp, which shifts from C to D every other bar. Zappas solos often have a simple harmonic backing, staying rigidly within one tonal center, allowing Zappa to explore different modes. In Inca Roads, Zappa plays mostly in G major over the vamp, a transposition to the dominant from the C major of the rest of the
210 211 212 213
ibid., 6. Marshall, Bob, interviewed, Zappa, Frank, (October 21-22 1988). Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 186.
214
Frank Zappa, Inca Roads, You Cant Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2, Rykodisc 10563/64 (1988).
215
The One Size Fits All Inca Roads solo is made up of the following sections of the YCDTOSA, Vol. 2 version. [3:56 - 4:27] [4:51 - 5:26) & [5:46 - 6:05]. 64
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa track. The vamp however, pulls the solo back toward C, the sub-dominant of G major, implying the C Lydian mode. The major Lydian mode, with its raised 4th degree, introduces a tritone, a dissonance that lends a sense of unease and tension. However, the vamp shifts up a tone to D every other bar, implying the dominant or mixolydian mode. D mixolydian resolves the tension, a standard major scale with a attened 7th degree. This mode is often used in jazz for its harmonic compatibility with dominant seventh chords. The simple vamp under Zappas musical meanderings, create a regular system of tension and release. Furthermore, harmonically, the bass player, whilst playing around a basic vamp riff, elaborates extensively to reinforce the implied harmony of Zappas modal shifts. Zappas solo incorporates many unusual rhythms that are idiosyncratic of his playing, he tries to talk with his instrument. The backing vamp keeps a steady 4/4 and seeks to accentuate Zappas rhythmic meandering where possible. When Zappa tries to imply a complex polyrhythm, the accompanying musicians are expected, where possible, to identify it and play a complimentary rhythm, within the wider meter.
In order to engage on the type of improvisational escapades that seem natural to me. I must be accompanied by a specialized rhythm section. A soloist choosing to work in this odd style ultimately ends up a hostage - he can only go as far into the experimental zones as his rhythm section will allow him to go. The problem lies in the polyrhythms. The chances of nding a drummer, a bass player and a keyboard player who can conceive of those polyrhythms - let alone identify them fast enough to play a complementary gure on the moment, are not good. 216
Zappa relies on his rhythm section to work with him to help him build an improvisation. His approach to improvisation is built on an aversion to regularity. He seeks the creation of tension and release, clearly a connection to his classical inuence and why he is outspoken on his dislike of manufactured, formulaic popular music, resulting in his systematic undermining of the genre though parody when working in that idiom. Any composition (or improvisation) which remains constant and regular throughout is, for me, equivalent to watching a movie with only good guys in it, or eating cottage cheese.217 However in his adoption of improvisation, he again roots his music within popular music, moving away from the score and focusing on the individual creativity of the performing musicians, rather than solely that of the composer.
216 217
Zappa, Frank, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989), 180. ibid., 181. 65
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Structure Structurally Inca Roads is complex and does not conform to any traditional song structure, instead it progresses linearly, in that respect sharing similarities with throughcomposition. A term describing composition with a relatively uninterrupted continuity of musical thought and invention.218
In the context of art song, through-composed describes settings in which a repeating verse structure is contradicted by the use of substantially different music for each stanza, unlike most hymns and folksongs, where strophic texts are reinforced by an equivalent repeating musical structure. [] The term is sometimes also applied to instrumental music. Haydn's Symphony no.45 (Farewell), for example, can be considered through-composed because crossconnections between the movements foster a sense of continuity throughout the work.219
Inca Roads has similarities with elements of this description. In the context of art-song, Inca Roads does not have a repeating verse structure in the traditional sense. However, it does have one repeating melody VT that is used in original or transformed form for all recurrences of the lyrics. Under this melody the music changes substantially between the original statement of the melody and the transformed version. However, the music used under the transformed version VT* retains the same basic elements in each appearance. Compared to the instrumental variant of through-composition however, Inca Roads has more similarities. As illustrated in the breakdown of structure and the use of themes below, Zappa reuses themes liberally but transforms and re-orchestrates them with almost every reoccurrence. This creates a sense that the listener constantly hears new material even when it has been previously introduced, by hiding the origins of particular themes Zappa hints at the inuence of through-composition, however, the heavily section structure suggests otherwise. Zappa picks and chooses elements he likes from formal compositional practices. The level of transformation is so heavy that repetition is largely disguised. This is particularly prevalent in the middle of the track, [I] to [Q], when the densest amount of new material is introduced alongside heavily transformed recurring themes. It was only through the process of transcription itself that this level of reiteration became apparent, it was not clear through simply listening to the track. Themes may be disguised, but they are recognised at some level, fostering continuity through almost subconscious familiarity. Furthermore, the technique of introducing cross-connections to
218
Rumbold, Ian, Through-composed, Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, (Accessed 19 January, 2011).
219
ibid. 66
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa create continuity resonates with Zappas own conceptual continuity idea. This also means there are many layers to the music, allowing the listener to hear more and more detail upon repeated listening. The track can be divided into three main sections, each divided by an extended instrumental solo. It is the longest song on the album at [8:54] due in part to the extended guitar solo lasting from [2:01] to [4:37]. Below is a detailed breakdown if the structure in terms of its melodic content. Zappa often reuses themes, and constructs the song out of a surprisingly few elements, considering the diversity of the overall sound, developing them and manipulating their arrangement and orchestration to construct the song. All key themes are shown in bold in can be found in Appendix A, score letter or bar numbers are displayed on the Y axis. [A]! [B]! [C]! [D]! [E]! [F]! [G]! ! [H]! [I]! ! [J]! Intro - Main Riff x 8 Vocal Theme (VT) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Polyrhythmic Interjection Call & Response Interjection VT continued VT continued Melodic Theme 1 (MT1) x2 ! - w/ added synth x2 Guitar Solo Melodic Theme 2 (MT2) x2 ! - 2nd time w/ added harmonisation - w/scalic synth gure x2 - 1 Bar repeated timpani gure. (TMP) - Taken from the nal beat of MT1 [K]! ! Vocal Theme Transformed plus new material (VT*+) (rhythmic reduction to consistant semiquavers) - 1 Bar - 1st three bars of VT + repeat of VT bar 1 and 1st 1/2 of VT bar 2 - 1 Bar - held note come - 1 Bar (TMP) - 11/16 Bar - 2nd 1/2 of VT bar 2 then new Indians material cont. into 67 Melodic Theme 1 x2
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa - 6/8 Bar - rst of the bill, carve up the hill
[171]! Fanfare - run down plus chordal resolve [L]! [M]! [N]! VT* - Marimba + synth play complete semiquaver version of original VT MT1* - triplet semiquavers Repeat of [K] - VT*+ - Minus TMP - Minus from somewhere out there [187]! Fanfare [O]! [P]! [Q]! [R]! [S]! [T]! [U]! 7/16 Melodic Theme 3 (MT3) Melodic Theme 4 (MT4) Keyboard Solo Marimba Cadenza MT3 - played solo in demisemiquavers VT* - Vocals (same as [L]) VT*+ - repeat of [N]! Outro - mallets + drums run down [206]! Fanfare* - simple version [211]! Fanfare+ - extended version
[284]! Fanfare* [292]! MT1* [297]! Fanfare [303]! TMP x3 + On Ruth A further illustration of the structural breakdown on Inca Roads can be found in appendix B, also shown below. It gives an approximate timeline of the structure of the track visually depicting different repeating themes. The depth of each box gives an indication of the depth of orchestration, letters (with their corresponding colours) do not correspond to score letters and are simply to give a visual indication of the broad use of similar material. For example, Block A is contained within the solid box in the structure list above despite the interruptions. The second half of the track is clearly far denser than the rst half.
68

0:00 0:30 A 1:00 1:30 B 2:00 2:30 3:00 C 3:30 4:00
4:30
5:00
5:30
6:00
6:30
7:00
7:30
8:00
8:30
E A
AE
E GE
AE
Inca Roads is constructed from seven different themes and bridging sections, all but two of which occur several times in some variation during the course of the track. At its simplest the track follows a structure of A C A C A, however, the repeating A sections are broken up by complex interjections, these interjections themselves forming a kind of repeat. Zappa was not content with simplicity, he had to add a fundamental layer of complexity to his music. Excluding the solos, only MT4, and both interjecting sections, score letters [C] & [E] (contained within the blue A block), do not reoccur. Whilst MT2 also does not recur later in the track, it plays the melody twice developing the theme with added harmonisation and mock-operatic vocals the second time. All the remaining themes are reused several times to create Inca Roads, all with different purposes. The shorter themes recur as bridge sections to move between more extended melodic themes, for example MT1 which acts as a bookend for the guitar solo and MT2, before the track launches into denser, more technical material. MT1 is further modied to MT1* (gure 10), played incredibly fast by synthesizer and doubled rhythmically by percussion, to act as a short virtuosic urry (found at [M] & [292]) segueing between VT*+ and VT* on two occasions ([L to N] and [S to T]). Zappa recycles an entire section of the track in a disguised manner that is difcult to register just by listening to the track. It only became apparent having written out the structure by themes of melodic content. This repeat of material is disguised by reversing the order of the melodic themes whilst keeping the themes themselves identical melodically. The further disguise is using VT* whereby the second time [S] the 69
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa orchestration changes, from heavy instrumental unison to octave unison vocals with solo drum accompaniment. The two repeated sections are outlined above by the dashed boxes. In the rst instance at [171] it plays Fanfare - VT* - MT1* - VT*+ and later repeats this at [284] to create Fanfare* - VT* - MT1* - VT*+ Only small adjustments occur in the end of internal sections to allow them to ow together, these adjustments are primarily in the drum part, the lls of which were clearly improvised in the moment. The focal and most memorable melody of the track is clearly the Vocal Theme, as, after its original statement, it is reused and augmented, in rhythmically condensed form, ve times in both instrumental and lyrical settings. VT is furthermore used as the melodic basis for Zappas carefully constructed satire. The lyrics stand on the popular music side of his work, alongside the riff based opening section, whilst the remainder of the track, in its diversity and technical accomplishment, stands amongst the classical. Through the structure, Zappas contemporary classical inuence is clearly visible in its linear construction. In his book, Zappa speaks of a system of weights and measures, inuenced by his idol220 Varse.
In my compositions, I employ a system of weights, balances, measured tensions and releases in some ways similar to Varses aesthetic. The similarities are best illustrated by comparison to a Calder mobile: a multicoloured whatchamacallit dangling in space, that has big blobs of metal connected to pieces of wire, balanced ingeniously against little metal dingleberries on the other end. Varse knew Calder, and was fascinated by these creations. So, in my case, I say: A large mass of any material will balance a smaller, denser mass of any material, according to the length of the gizmo its dangling on, and the balance point chosen to facilitate that danglement. 221
Zappa is simply saying here that more complex material can be offset, and thus maintain the interest of an audience over the course of the piece, by more expansive, accessible material. This is certainly the case in Inca Roads, the opening, lyric-led section of the track, along with the guitar solo, balance the rapid-re density of the middle and end sections of the song. A balance between accessible popular, and intellectual classical music, a juxtaposition of supposed simplicity and complexity, humour and seriousness. This dichotomy is fundamental to Zappas approach to every aspect of his music.
220
Zappa, Frank, Edgard Varse: The Idol of My Youth, Stereo Review, (June 1971). 61-62.
221
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Album Art The back cover (see over page) of One Size Fits All is a star chart mocking astronomy by containing fake celestial bodies such as Rex Bogonia, Leo Limon and Jim & I The Siamese Twins. The stars that populate the chart are also renamed, either as soundalike, comical versions of the original stars, or seemingly random people or places, such as London tube stations, or people with some connection to Zappa such as family, groupies, artwork and crew members, Herbycon for example indicating Herbie Cohen, Zappas manager. A complete list of the star and constellations on the chart, compared to a traditional start chart and their possible signicance can be found.222
222
http://members.shaw.ca/fz-pomd/stars.html. 71
The star chart is consistent with the celestial theme of the album cover (above), an image of a disembodied, cigar clutching hand, presumably God, surveying His vision of the universe, a giant maroon sofa hovering in space, rmly in the foreground, a reference to the song Sofa which appears in two different forms on the album. A speech scroll issues from the bottom of the image bearing the motto Divan, Divan Weisst du wer ich bin. Divan is a pun between the German word for Sofa and divine, whilst the remainder of the statement translates as Do you know who I am. This is presented as a question from God to the universe, a universe that is all encompassing, hence One Size Fits All, in which a humble sofa is the most important thing. This phrase is also what stars say when they are famous and want to get in somewhere for free.
The sofa image perpetuates technicians of mass culture shocking, because it reminds By projecting the banality of special disgust. 223 Zappas criticism of the passivity induced by TV culture. To the who declare we live in a visual age the sight of the sofa is them where all the people who are watching TV actually are. [] bourgeois respectability on to the heavens, Zappa summons a
223
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa The album art ts neatly with the cosmological imagery in Inca Roads. The pseudohistory of Dniken and Zappas mockery of it recurs in the presentation of the lyrics in the gatefold sleeve of the album. The lyrics are printed over a mock aged parchment background in a font evoking an archaic script. Zappa is presenting the lyrics as a work of historic religious scripture, enhanced by the illuminated initial in Zappas forward (see over page), which ends withs I hereby pronounce myself ready to go back on the road. F.Z. Easter Sunday 1975, 11:30 PM. Zappa is deliberately using religious language and presentation to tie the theme of the front cover and the lyrics of Inca Roads which discuss the supposed celestial inuence on ancient civilisations, with aliens mistaken for Gods that passed knowledge on to the native peoples. Zappa is simultaneously mocking religion and mass culture, implying that they are exactly the same thing. Religion is a commodity, a target for consumer capitalism.
Analysis Summary In Inca Roads, Zappa is employing a multi-layered approach to convey his views lyrically. On the surface, the lyrics convey a simple UFO story, a component of hippie culture. They conform to Zappas explanation of lyrical intent, purely for entertainment purposes, particularly the sexual innuendo and self-referentiality in the latter verses, and on the 73
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa surface are somewhat stupid. The lyrics could be disregarded through his own reasoning, they are present because of a need in popular music to have lyrics attached to music. Furthermore, the presence of the lyrics set the track within a popular music idiom. A secondary layer is his subtle parody of hippie culture by lampooning the work of Erich von Dniken. Through the nonchalant tone of the lyrics, Zappa sets a level of critical distance from his target, through which to channel the satire. He does not specically discount the theories of Dniken, however, given the tradition of mocking his subjects in previous works, and the lmic science-ction references, it is safe to say that Zappa was opposed to the pseudoscience of Dniken and particularly its signicance within the counterculture, the wider topic of which is a consistent target throughout his work, whether working from within it or not.
Finally, through the pun ink erodes, Zappa is highlighting the impermanence of written culture, the fading of metanarratives. Written history is a result of those suitably positioned to record it, and thus, is biased towards their point of view. The history of less powerful people, from their perspective, is often lost. In doing this, particularly through veiling the pun in the title, Zappa is placing himself within the realm of post-modernity. Furthermore Inca Roads also parodies the pseudo-cosmological music of progressive rock bands such as The Moody Blues, ELP and Yes. These bands used quasi-spiritual lyrics to create the illusion of being deep, thus ingratiating themselves into the countercultural ethos. Besides countercultural satire, Inca Roads also incorporates high art inuences adding a sophisticated level of experimentation into popular music. Zappa incorporates creative processes beyond the popular music norm introducing complex polyrhythms and meter to deviate from the rigid 4/4 of popular music, the music is never complacent, particularly in the more experimental latter half of the track. Here Zappa deviates from traditional popular music, attempting to subvert popular music norms, by using a hybrid group of conservatoire and popular musicians. He introduces far greater detail to the music by using classical arrangement techniques, transforming material from the start of the track to create new material. These techniques were only possible with a band of particular prowess, centered around percussionist Ruth Underwood who possessed conservatoire 74
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa training and through which, was able to realise the jagged terrain of Zappas complex melodies and abruptly shifting arrangement. Inca Roads, lies between his caustic social commentary and profanely whimsical songs. The rst half is parody of Dnikens Chariots of the Gods?, thus a detailed critique of a specic aspect of the counterculture, the latter shifting to the self-referential, profane lyrics typical of the Flo & Eddie band. A lyrical juxtaposition of rst, serious critique and second, populist whimsey, complexity versus simplicity. Musically the same juxtaposition is present but in reverse order. Simple, accessible, rock music rst and complex, elitist classical music second, broken up by instrumental solos rmly rooted in jazz, which by its nature blends elite classical and popular culture. Inca Roads clearly presents Zappa as the product of two musical worlds, a dichotomy between classical and popular. A postmodern approach which collapses the hierarchical distinction between elite and popular culture.224 Issues of Transcription The act of transcription itself raised an issue concerning the presentation of popular music using the conventions of musical scoring. The issue is one of conveying the necessary rhythmic precision needed to recreate the musical groove which is a fundamental element of popular music. Groove by its nature its instinctual between the musicians playing and is learned within the popular music idiom. Compromises had to be made in the score between accuracy and legibility. The issue lies partially on the original source text of the composition. In classical music, the text is the score itself, it is the denite article and therefore any subsequent performance of the text is subject to the interpretation of the conductor and thus the musicians. In popular music, the text is the actual recording, any transcription of that recording is subject to the individual interpretation of the transcriber who may also be working to a specic specication regarding the intended audience for the score, for example creating a piano lead sheet or full score, different levels of detail which subsequently inuences interpretation. The potential for error is introduced in the recreation of popular music by musicians working from a transcription, as it is not the original text. They are working from a source already diluted by the idiosyncrasies and perspective of another individual.
224
Sarup, Madan, An Introductory Guide to Post-structuralism and postmodernism, (Hemel Hemptstead, 1993). 132. 75
Figure 17
A specic example of compromise for the score in Inca Roads is bar 32 (gure 16). The version of this bar present in the score is not the absolute level of accuracy. The rhythms in the bar are pushed ahead of the beat such that they can be written out precisely by using compound meter and very small notes values. This is shown in the second scored example (gure 17). However, scoring the phrase this way is difcult to understand and recreate because of the tiny divisions involved, thus this level of detail is removed to promote legibility. The pushed rhythms can be recreated from the simplied score based on the understanding that popular musicians will naturally push or pull against the meter depending on the overall groove of the piece. The score is not the text, the recording is, therefore the score is designed to supplement the original recording. Anyone attempting to 76
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa recreate the piece faithfully should use the recording as the source material and assimilate the feel and therefore groove of the track from the recording, using the score simply to provide the core musical data on which the feel is built.
to treat popular music as simply another genre (as simply another sort of music that people listen to) and to make use of the techniques developed for the study of the bourgeois music canon, is similarly insufcient.225
The conventions of classical music scoring are insufcient to tackle popular music accurately where a fundamental element of the music is an unspoken, sympathetic relationship of rhythm and groove between musicians that has developed through twentieth century musical traditions that stand opposed to, a reaction against, classical music. Writing swung for example, at the start of a score is simply insufcient, a patronising lack of information that reduces the talents of practitioners of popular music to amateur226 status. Conclusion
Zappa's output can be dened as a critique of orchestral and pop traditions and is thereby structured around a negative dialectic: established cultures are at the same time imitated and taken apart. But just as each individual Zappa score seems to reject the utopian idea of Aesthetic unity, taking this very disunity as an aspect of Zappa's style helps us nd threads of consistency across his thirty-year career.227
Arved Ashby provides a concise summary of Zappas output, by embracing and yet questioning established musical traditions of classical and popular music, and furthermore any sub-genres within them he wished to use as inspiration for his musical critique, Zappa operates above classication by any specic genre when treating his work as a whole. His theory of conceptual continuity binds his individual works together through often obscure and unrelated references which also permeate beyond his music, with the intention of unifying the collection.228
225
Moore, Allan F., Introduction, in Analyzing Popular Music ed. Moore, Allan F (Cambridge, 2003), 2.
226 227
ibid., 1.
Ashby, Arved, Frank Zappa and the Anti-Fetishist Orchestra, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 4 (Winter, 1999), 557-606; 559.
228

The one thing thats been consistent about the albums that Ive put out is that each one appears to go in a different direction, but if you look a little closer that its all part of one continuous whole, and thats the way its designed.229
The question asked at the beginning of this thesis, should Zappa be regarded as a composer in the classical sense, or as an artist in the popular music sense? has proven a difcult one to answer denitively. There are arguments to support both sides, as a composer he embraces sophisticated musical practises from high art, beyond what is expected from a popular musician. Zappa denes himself as a composer and certainly if you look at his wider output, beyond the albums discussed here, Zappa released several albums of orchestral and experimental music once he had the nancial means, time and fan base to support these activities, however the majority of his output are albums of popular music, the number of orchestral or more experimental albums are severely limited, most likely due to nancial and logistical reasons plus the greater time required to complete such projects. In the time period discussed in this thesis however, the majority of evidence is for Zappa as a popular music artist who approached his work with a classical methodology. His artistic approach often denied him the credibility that is attached to the classical composer label. The approach taken with Inca Roads supports this outcome, the track is complex popular music, complex as it contains many techniques imported from the classical world, the aim of which was to progress the limits of popular music. Inca Roads was chosen as the case study as it represents a high point in his popular output, the track is an excellent example of the successful blend of styles, it is adventurous without becoming inaccessible. This is supported by the track becoming both a fan and live performance favorite, performed on almost every tour for the rest of Zappas career without, as is often the case with his music, major alterations to suit a particular band lineup. Popular musicians have to work in a variety of mediums beyond simply the music. The context surrounding popular music, is a signicant inuence on its composition. It has a sociocultural context at its core, external factors inuence its inception; the media; the record company; the musical trend of the moment; without conforming to the demanding factors at a particular point in time, an individual or groups music would not be released. Zappa was particularly adept at adapting to controlling factors surrounding him,
229
Longfellow, Matthew, dir., Classic Albums: Over-Nite Sensation & Apostrophe (), (2007). 78
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa conforming to these factors just enough to be successful and therefore use his position to direct his satire from within. If we dene Zappa therefore as a popular music artist then many of the attributes that dene him as such are also key inuences of his compositional style. These are namely a willingness to surrender to a level of accessibility for exposure and ultimately, nancial gain. Throughout his career he manipulated his music and subsequently his image to adapt to the intended market, for example becoming part of the LA Freak scene to release his debut album and releasing accessible, commercial material highlighting its comedic value with Over-Nite Sensation. Despite these adaptations, his image is always predicated on the basis of the slightly wacky outsider, appealing to the counterculture through his perceived nonconformity. A further dening inuence were the members of his band at any one time, who were mostly of a popular music background.The individual capabilities, background and musical preference of his musicians directly inuenced the music he produced. Zappa tried to incorporate the talents of his musicians, particularly if they has classical backgrounds, playing to their strengths, and pushing them to their limits often by removing them from their comfort zones. A key component of his style was actively seek musical progression, trying to push the boundaries of what could be done in any genre he chose to operate in. Eddie Jobson, a member of Zappas touring band in 1976-1977 said,
Thats his strength, he stretches his musicians beyond their capabilities all the time. And then when it comes to a performance hell just relax it slightly to a point where people can actually play what he wants...Such outrageous stuff, so technical, so difcult, and youve got to remember it all as well. Youve got to learn it fast because Frank gets impatient if you dont.230
Zappas willingness to work in and subvert almost any given genre that circumstance gave him the opportunity to pursue, led to a wide variety of styles in his output. The only key linking factor is an obsession for composition a desire for constant development, the only way he could produce such a vast output was by drawing upon every stylistic musical factor he had available to him, working through constant critique of music and culture, within both the classical and popular musical worlds. A dichotomy between the two that can be traced back to his early inuences of the experimental Varse and guitar led R&B.
230
Miles, Barry, Zappa: A Biography, (New York, 2004), 256. 79
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Inca Roads represents the development of his compositional style at that point in his career because it combines all of his key inuences and synthesises accessible popular sensibilities with progressive classical music experimentation. Up to that point in his work Zappa tends to compromise, within the overall context of popular music, working either in either experimental, abstract styles, such as Lumpy Gravy, or banal and accessible, lyric led satire such as on Filmore East - June 1971. Inca Roads, combines the accessible whilst subverting it through targeting countercultural paraphernalia, lampooning Chariots of the Gods?, using the technique of anti-lyric to challenge pop music lyrical convention. By introducing extended classical melodies, complex structure, and furthermore experimental transformation technique, Zappa is also subverting high-art by introducing it into popular music. Inca Roads subverts two musical worlds that are traditionally divided, by combining the two. The track is one of the most popular amongst fans, perhaps because it combines every facet of Zappas compositional style without any individual element becoming dominant. This work indirectly touches on the question of wether Zappa was a modernist or postmodernist, it is a difcult question to answer partly as he never considered himself in such terms and therefore cannot be ascribed to have intentionally worked to conform to such labels. A whole new body of work could be written to answer the question and would have to consider his entire output, something that could not be done here. In the context of this thesis, Zappas work can be considered an architect of postmodernity as his work is mainly concerned with the breakdown of pop and high art. He was active and in the right location when postmodern theory began to emerge among artists and critics in New York in the 1960s and taken up by European theorists in the 1970s.231 When individual albums are considered independently of his wider work, different conclusions can be reached depending on the concept of each album. James Borders makes an excellent case for Zappa displaying modernistic qualities in the early albums Lumpy Gravy, Uncle Meat, and Burnt Weeny Sandwich, yet he still concedes that
231
Sarup, Madan, An Introductory Guide to Poststructuralism and Postmodernism, (Hemel Hempstead, 1993), 131. 80

by contrasting broadly different approaches to composition, moreover Zappa was implicitly rejecting the kind of hairsplitting that set the modernist music of composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez apart from more accessible avant-grade works.232
These albums stand out from his wider work due to an emphasised sense of experimentation, a self-consciousness and a rejection of narrative structure in favour of simultaneity and montage233 that places them within a modernist eclecticism. They cannot be dened strictly as modernist however, as they also display many hallmarks of postmodernism. Zappa hardly approached his work with an overarching theoretical intent to be modernist or postmodernist, however he challenges modernisms hostility to mass-culture, he had a professed willingness to reap the prots of his work, even reinventing his music and image between albums to target commercial gain. The work of modernists reproduces unhelpfully the distinction between the high arts and low, less serious, popular arts.234 This is a stance that he was evidently opposed to as he embraced these extremes and combined the two, working in the grey area between musical worlds. Postmodernity is displayed in the way he dissolves the boundary between art and everyday life, the collapse of the hierarchical distinction between elite and popular culture.235 Zappa transforms images of real life, introducing them to classical form and style. Furthermore he fragments time both at a minute level through his use of complex polyrhythms and antilyric in his music, and by producing albums of wildly different content that stand individually as self-contained concepts yet are connected through his theory of conceptual continuity, drawing threads through time between his wider body of work.
232
Borders, James, Form and the Concept Album: Aspects of Modernism in Frank Zappas Early Releases, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 39, No. 1, (Winter, 2001), 118-160; 119.
233
Sarup, Madan, An Introductory Guide to Poststructuralism and Postmodernism, (Hemel Hempstead, 1993), 131.
234 235
Mcrobbie, Angela, Postmodernism and Popular Culture, (New York, 1994), 14.
Sarup, Madan, An Introductory Guide to Poststructuralism and Postmodernism, (Hemel Hempstead, 1993), 132. 81
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Lyotard seems apt when describing Zappa, he says,
As for the artists and writers who question the rules and possibly share their suspicions by circulating their work, they are destined to have little credibility in the eyes of those concerned with reality and identity; they have no guarantee of an audience. 236
Ultimately, Zappas music presents highly crafted and detailed work in the guise of chaos.237 He is an advocate for the progression and potential of the popular musician and the progression of the genre. He demonstrated through his critique of specic genres that rigidly conforming to the stylistic specics of a single genre is limiting, development is only possible through embracing every genre and combining elements from them to create something new. He was a composer in a popular setting and represents the evolution of the popular music artist, through his work he says, why cant pop be clever? and why cant classical be accessible?.
236
Lyotard, Jean Francois, Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?, in Postmodernism: A Reader ed. Docherty, Thomas, (Hemel Hempstead, 1993), 41.
237
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Bibliography Adorno, Theodor, and Horkheimer, Max, The Dialectic of Enlightenment, (1944). Ashby, Arved, Frank Zappa and the Anti-Fetishist Orchestra, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 4 (Winter, 1999). Borders, James, Form and the Concept Album: Aspects of Modernism in Frank Zappas Early Releases, Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 39, No. 1, (Winter, 2001). Chevalier, Dominique, Viva! Zappa, (1985). Chion, Michel, Audio-Vision: Sound On Screen, (New York, 1990). Courrier, Kevin, The Dangerous Kitchen: The Subversive World of Zappa, (London, 2002). Dniken, Erich von, Chariots of the Gods, (London, 1969). Davis, Steven, Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga, (New York, 1985). Doerstuck, Robert L., Keyboard, The Zappa Legacy, (April 1994). Erskine, Peter, This heres LOWELL GEORGE, (excited gibbering), NME, (February 1, 1975). Grier, James, The Mothers of Invention and Uncle Meat: Alienation, Anachronism and a Double Variation, Acta Musicologica, Vol. 73, (2001). Grifths, Dai, From lyric to anti-lyric: analyzing the words in pop song, in Analyzing Popular Music, ed. Moore, Allan F (Cambridge, 2003). Hagen, W. von, The Ancient Sun Kingdoms of the Americas, (Cologne, 1962). Hansen, Barry, Rolling Stone, Zappa: Continuity Is The Mothers Mother, (July 4, 1974). Hopkins, Jerry, interviewed, Zappa, Frank in, The Rolling Stone Interview, Rolling Stone, (July 20, 1968). Kaylan, Howard, interviewed in Zig Zag, No, 25, (July 1972), 15. Kennedy, Michael, ed., Concise Dictionary of Music, (Oxford, 1952, 1996, 4th Edition). Kloet, Co de, Society Pages, 10, Happy Together: Part Two. Leigh, Nigel, interview with Frank Zappa for, BBC2: The Late Show, Utility Mufn Research Kitchen, LA, (March, 1993). Lowe, Kelly Fisher, The Words and Music of Frank Zappa, (Nebraska, 2007). Lyotard, Jean Francois, Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?, in Postmodernism: A Reader, ed. Docherty, Thomas, (Hemel Hempstead, 1993). 83
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Marshall, Bob, interviewed, Zappa, Frank, (October 21-22 1988). Miles, Barry, Zappa: A Biography, (New York, 2004). Milkowski, Bill, Frank Zappa: Guitar Player, Down Beat, (Feb, 1983). Morgenstern, Joe, Democracys Pitchman, Los Angeles Times Magazine, (October 30, 1988). Moore, Allan F., Introduction, in Analyzing Popular Music ed. Moore, Allan F (Cambridge, 2003). Mulhern, Tom, Not Exactly Duane Allman, Guitar Player, (February 1983). Murray, Charles Shaar, Godmother, NME, (August 26, 1973). Murray, Charles Shaar, Penguins in Bondage and Other Perversions, NME, (September 1, 1973). Piston, Walter, Harmony, (New York, 1941). Ruhlmann, William, Moving on to Phase Three, Goldmine, January 27, (1989). Rumbold, Ian, Through-composed, Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, (Accessed 19 January, 2011). Sarup, Madan, An Introductory Guide to Post-structuralism and postmodernism, (Hemel Hemptstead, 1993). Shuker, Roy, Popular Music: The Key Concepts, (New York, 2005). Slaven, Neil, Electric Don Quioxte: The Denitive Story of Frank Zappa, (London, 1996). Smith, Jim, Kicks in the Ear, NME, (January 26, 1974). Tolkein, J. R. R., The Lord of the Rings, (London, 1955). Various, Musician, Frank Zappa 1940-1993, (February, 1994). Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Complete Guide to his Music, (London, 2005). Watson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, (London, 1994). Zappa, Frank, Edgard Varse: The Idol of My Youth, Stereo Review, (June, 1971). Zappa, Frank, with Occhiogrosso, Peter, The Real Frank Zappa Book, (New York, 1989).
84
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Discography Deep Purple, Machine Head, (1972). Dire Straits, Dire Straights, Vertigo (1978). Edgard Varse, The Complete Works of Edgard Varse, Volume 1, Naxos 8554820 (1950). Frank Zappa, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974). Frank Zappa, Chungas Revenge, 10511 (1970). Frank Zappa, Hot Rats, Rykodisc 10508 (1969). Frank Zappa, Lumpy Gravy, Rykodisc 10504 (1967). Frank Zappa, Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch, Rykodisc 10537 (1982). Frank Zappa, You Cant Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2, Rykodisc 10563/64 (1988). Frank Zappa, Zappa in New York, Rykodisc 10524/25 (1978). Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Over-Nite Sensation. Rykodisc 10518 (1973). Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Roxy & Elsewhere, Rykodisc 10520 (1974). Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, One Size Fits All, Rykodisc 10521 (1975). Genesis, Selling England by the Pound, (1973). Genesis, Wind & Wuthering, (1976). Martin Perlich, radio interview on bootleg album, Leatherette. Loonar Tunes, 2S-5LP (1977). The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Apple (1967). The Mothers, Filmore East - June 1971, Rykodisc 10512 (1971). The Mothers, Just Another Band from L.A., Rykodisc 10515 (1972). The Mothers Of Invention, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Rykodosc 10509 (1969). The Mothers Of Invention, Freak Out!, Rykodisc 10501 (1967). The Mothers Of Invention, Weasels Ripped My esh, Rykodisc 10510 (1970). The Mothers Of Invention, Were Only In It For The Money, Rykodisc 10503 (1968). Yes, Close to the Edge, Close to the Edge, (1972) 85
Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Videography Cruickshank, Dan, dir., Around The World in 80 Treasures, BBC, (2008). Haskin, Byron, dir., The War of The Worlds, (1953). Kubrick, Stanley, dir., 2001: A Space Odyssey, (1968). Longfellow, Matthew, dir., Classic Albums: Over-Nite Sensation & Apostrophe (), (2007). Pierre & Francois Lamoureux, dir., Zappa Plays Zappa, (2007). Wilcox, Fred M., The Forbidden Planet, (1956). Wise, Rob, dir., Herrmann, Bernard, comp., The Day The Earth Stood Still. (1951). Zappa, Frank, Album promo, Apostrophe (), http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=iRbn3ZZx0Mg (1974). Zappa, Frank, dir., Baby Snakes, (1979). Zappa, Frank, dir., The Dub Room Special, (1982).
86
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,., , , , , , , /,/, , , - ,). , , / , + , , , ,& ! (# ( /, , . &, & & , & ., & , & & & & & & -& $ ., /, Drums ., " &# & & * *% $
202
6 6
Bass
! ! & '# " , "# . , , # , & -, , ., , , , , . , , , , , , -, , ., , -, , , , -, /, * , & '#

$ &#
! "
206
208 = 192 approx. & & Qq ! ! & & & -& # ) Mar. # & " " $ + # *! % mp % %
*$ $
,! , 0!
P
! ,! , 0 +
# MT4 %
& & . & &# & $ & & !!
(
!%
& + ' % %
! %
215
E. Gtr
280
& & & & /& & & & ! & & & & -& -& & & .& .& & &.& & & & /& /&-& & & & & &.& & & & # # q"= 96 approx. q = 104 approx.
f
% +
S
% /& & & & 276 & &, /&

!!
.& & & .& ( $

3
6 + + +# +6 ! & Drums % &, & 1,, & ( " & #, 0+ ) &$ 0 , ,0, , *$
mf
*$ Bass
291
! & "
&
&
&
&
&
&+ -& #
$ $
& & ! . & &+ & & %# & )& +,
& & & + "( + & -! && & %/& /& "# %
&+
( $
ff
295
*
299
! "#
1
/,/, , 3 3 , , , /, , # ) /, , , $ , , , , , , , $ % , $ , f -1 .1 0! 2
, , , , , , , , -,
6 + + + +3 +, & & () & & 1 -,& & ) & & "" 1 0, ! & 0 "# 0
,, ,,
1 *$ $
19
165
TMP
Timpani
# ' $ ' +
( (
* ) * )
)! )!
Fanfare
( + (
* ) * )
) )
Drums
"
Flute
20
171
166
Ld. Vox Mar.
% ! )! ") "
K
Did
! ) "
" "
ff
- 3
# "
" "
/-/- - - - /- $) - - )- - ) . ) ) ) ) /-) - - ) )" /- - " - $ - - - - - . a ve - hi - cle come from some - where out there. /-/- - - - /- - ) ! " $$ - )-! - - .. . /- - /- " $ . )! 3
Did
) ) , ' )
) # .) " .
a ve
)
hi
cle.
) " "
" "
Piano Bass
# )! # ) ,"
f
Moog 1 Drums
/! -! / - - - - - /- /-- - / ! " $ ) )" " ) . - /- - "

f ff
"
Bass
+ ! "
ff
mf
ff
. -- - ) ( 3 - 3
# . . " ..) !
.0 # " ) 2
0*
1-
" 1" " 3 " f
$ - - 4
* - " ( "
" "
# " .
Drums
167
! , "
--
5 3 - - - 4
# - - - -- -- " - " - - " 4
Ld. Vox
Come,
2 ( - 3 ' ( - 3 ' 2 & ( - 3
!! !" !! !" !! !"

* ) ) ! %* 0- - - - ) ) ) )!
E. Gtr %
% ' # 1 #
L
+ +
Bass
Timpani
Mar.
Drums
' ( * ' ( ) ) ! " --- - $ - -") -" - - - - - - - - - - - 5 - % --- ---* . + ' ( ) ) ' (f $
174
Moog 1
! ")
" "
! & --- - $ - -% % '( 5 ------- - --- - ----- -f
!! !" & '( !! !"
25
206 ! Mar. "$
Fanfare*
Moog 1
! "$
! '# ! ! !
'#
' ' ' '
ff
' $ $ (# (# ) '
''
' $ $
' $ $
Bass
% ! ! '#
Drums
! ) & ! '#
' )
'
'
' )
'
'
'
207 ! Mar. "$
Moog 1
! "$
'# '#
' ' ' , '
' $ $ (# (# + ' *. '
' $ $
' $ $
" # " # " #
Bass
% '# & +# '#
Drums
' -
'
'
'
'
' '
'
' '
'
'
" #
208 ! Mar. "$
" ' ' ' ' ' ' /' # #

P
mp
E. Gtr
' ' ' ' ' /' /' ' ' ' ' 0' 0'1 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' /' ' 0' ' " ' 0' 1' 1' ' ' ' ' ' ' # $ # ' % " ' #
f
' ' ' 0' ' ' ' #
' ' . 0' ' ' 0' 1 ' ' ' + ' 1'
f
3
'
Bass
'
'
'/' # ' ' )
''' ' 0 ' '# ' * ' 2 ,' *.
' ' ' ' /' ' 1 ' ' 1' * ' 2 ,' *. ' + '' ' ) 2
Drums
" *# & # ' 2

f
mf
,'
* * ' 2
* * * '' ' ) 2
0:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 C B
0:30
1:00
Appendix B
4:30 6:00 6:30 7:00 7:30 8:00
5:00
5:30
8:30
D
B
B AE F E GE C
E A
F E
AE
Appendix C
Frank Zappa
Inca Roads
from One Size Fits All (1975)
Transcribed by Benjamin Wall
Drum Notation Legend
Inca Roads
Composed by Frank Zappa Transcribed by Benjamin Wall
A q = 120 approx.
Lead Vocals
! !
Double-tracked on record, solo in performance.
" " "
" " "
Backing Vocals
Flute
Marimba
! ! % % & % % &
& " " "
Vibraphone
Rhodes Piano
Sythesizer 1
"!
! #
' ( & % % % % % % %
% %
& " " " "
&
' ( * & % % )
Synthesizer 2
"!
! #
Simple, thin, sine wave
"
White noise + cutoff /resonance to manipulation through LFO to create improvised spaceship, wooshing effects.
Electric Guitar
" % % & % % & & "

Tin Can Percussion. Approximate pitches.
" ' ( % % % & % % % % % % & " " & ' ( * & % % )
Bass Guitar
Timpani
# $ $
Percussion
Drum Kit
mf
+ %$
+ % % &
"
' %
. + + + ' + + + + + % + + % % %$ % &$ % - % , ,
+ . . + + % -
V.S.
3 ! Mar. "!
$ $
$ $
Synth 2
! "!
" $ $ % # $ $ % %
& ' % $ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $
& ' ) $ $ (
Bass
& $' $ $ $ $ $ $ % , * $ $ , $
$ $ %
& $' $) (
Drums
* * * $ * * $% $ %% * * $ $ % $ +
* * * $ , $% $ %
, $$ $ $ % $ $ -
& $ $ $ .
&
5 ! Mar. "!
$ $ $# /$ %
f
$ $
Synth 1
& ' % $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 0$
$ $
% %
& ' ) $ $ ( 0$ $
% 1$
) 0$
1$
1$ %
Synth 2
"!
( 0$ $ $ $ ! $ $
ff
E. Gtr
$ %%% $ 2 $ 2 2 + $ $ % %
3 3 3 & ' $ $ $ % $ $ $ $ , $ $ $ , $ $ $ % % & ' ) $ $ ( %
Bass
" $ $ % #
Drums
* * * $ * * * * $% $% $ %% $ $% +
* * * & * * * * * * * * * * $ $% $ . 4 $ $ $ $ $ $ $
7 ! Mar. "!
Synth 1
$#% ! )$ &
$ $
$ $
% * $
& ' % $ $ $ $ $ $ $ +$ +,
$ $
& ' '& % $ $ (
Synth 2
"!
+$ $ ! $ ( $ $ $ $ &&& $ . $ . . $ $ % % , , , & $' $ $ $ $ $ $ % 0 $ $ $ % % & $' $* ( %
E. Gtr
Bass
" $ $ % #
Drums
/ / / $ / / 0 / $& $ %& / / $ $ & $ & $ $ -
/ / / / / / / $ / / / & / $ $& $ %& $ $ $ $ 1 -
'
9 ! Mar. "!
Synth 1
$#% +$
$ $
$ $ )$
& ' $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $ +,
$ $
& ' * % $ $ (
Synth 2
"!
" $ $ % # $ $ % % & $' $ $ $ $ 0 $ $ $ % $ $ % % & $' $* % (
Bass
Drums
/ / / 0 / / $ / / $ & / $& $ %& $ $& $ $ -
/ / & $ / / $ / / $& $ %& $ $ $ $ $ $ 1 -
V.S.
11 ! Mar. "!
Synth 1
$ $ *
$ $
% *
& ' $ $ $ $ $
$ $ *
$ $
% % +*
& ' ) $ $ (
Synth 2
"!
" $ $ % # $ $ % % & ' $ $ $ $ $ . $ $ $ % , , , $# $ $ $ % % ,) $ % & ' ) $ $ ( %
Bass
Drums
, , , $ , , , , $# . , $# $ %# $ $# $ $ -
.) $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ /
$
13 ! Mar. "!
Synth 1
$ $
$ $
& ' % $ $ $ $ $ $ $ *
$ $
% 1*
& ' ) $ $ (
! 0
f
Synth 2
"!
2 , , ! , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 2 , , , , , , , , & , , , , % , , , , 2 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 2 , , , , , , , , & , , , , % , , , , 2 , , , , , , , , , , , , % , , , ,
E. Gtr
muted strumming. f
Bass
" $ $ % #
$ $ %
& $' $ $ $ $ $ $ % $ $ 3 $ , , $#
$ $ % , $ $ % $ /
Drums
, , , , , $# , , $ $# $ %# $ $# -
) & ,# & $
& $' $) ( , $ $
15 ! Mar. "!
Synth 1
! "!
$ $ +*
$ $
% ,*
& ' % $ $ $ $ $ $ $ +*
$ $
% *
& ' ) $ $ (
E. Gtr
. - - ! - - - " $ $ % #
. . . . . - - - & - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $ $ % % & $' $ $ $ $ $ $ % 0 $ $ 0 $
. . . . - - - & - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $ $ % 0 $ 1 % & $' $) ( %
Bass
Drums
%
Ld. Vox
$ $$ $ %$ $ $$ $$ /
$ $$ $ %
& $ $ $ & 0 $ $ $ & 1
17
Mar.
! "!
! $
mf
Warm falsetto where possible.
$
a
$
ve -
$
hi -
$
cle
$
come
$
from
$
some -
Did
$ $
$ $
% %
Bass
" $ $ % #
& ' $ $ $ $ $ & $' $ $ $ $ 0 $
$ $
$ $
% %
& ' '& % $ $ & $' $' & % 0 $ $
$ $ %
$ $ %
$ $ % %
$$
Drums
%
Ld. Vox
0 $ $ $ $$ $ %$ $ $$ $ $ /
$ $$ $ 2
$ $ % $ % 1
19
Mar.
! "!
! $
where
$ 1
out
% %
*
there.
3 & ' % $ $ $ $ $ $ $ & $' $ $ $ $ $ $ % $ $ %
2 % %
% & ' ) $ $ ( & $' $) (

f
$ 1
Just
$ $
$ $
% %
% % 0 $
V.S.
Bass
" $ $ % #
$ $ %
$ $ %
Drums
0 0 $ $ $ - - $ $$ $ %$ $ $$ $ $ /
0 $ $ $ $$ $ %$ $ % $ 1 $ /
21
Ld. Vox
Mar.
! "!
$ $ $
to
$
land
$
in
$#
the
$ $
An -
$
des?
% '
& $ $ ' ' ( ) + $ $ * ( $) $+ * ' '
$ $
'
$ $
'
' '
( ) ' $ $ $ $ $ $ $ ( $) $ $ $ $ $ $ ' / $
Bass
" $ $ ' #
$ $ '
$ $ '
Drums
$
23
, , , , , , , $# $ $ $# $ '# $ $# $ . -
, , , , , , , $# / / $ , $ $ $# $ '# $ $# $ $ -
Ld. Vox
Mar.
! "!
$
Was
$ '
$#
it
$#
round
and
$ 0
$#
did
$ $
it
$
have
$# ' ' ( ) + $ $ * ( $) $+ *
$ 0
a
mf
$ $
$ $
'
' '
( ) $ $ $ $ $ ( $) $ $ $ $
$ $
'
$ $
'
' '
Bass
" $ $ ' #
$ $ '
$ $ '
$ $ '
Drums
$
25
, , , , , , , $# / / $ , $ $ $# $ '# $ $# $ $ -
, , , , , , , $# / / $ , $ $ $# $ '# $ $# $ $ -
Ld. Vox
Mar.
! "!
! $#
mo -
$ %
tor.
$ ' ' '
$
Or
was
$# $ $ ' $ $
$ 0
it
$ ' '
$
some -
$ $
'
$ $
( ) $ $ $ $ $ ( $) $ $ $ $
mp
'
Bass
" $ $ ' #
$ $ '
$ $ '
$ $ '
( ) + ' $ $ * ( $) $+ ' *
Drums
, , , / / , , $ , , $ # , $ $ $# $ '# $ $ $ $ -
, , , , , $ , , $# $ '# $ $# $# $ $ . -
/ $
27
Ld. Vox
Mar.
! "!
% ! &
-
%#
thing
%#
diff -
% %
er - ent.
'# % % ) % % ) ) )
( * + % % , * %+ %, ) )
mf
% %
% %
) )
* + % % % % % * %+ % % % %
Bass
" % % ) #
% % )
% % )
% % )
Drums
. . . 0 0 . . % %# %# % % . % % %# . . % % # ) /
. . . 0 0 . . % %# %# % % . % % %# . . % % # ) /
29
Ld. Vox
! ! %%%)
3
$
George Duke
Spoken word. Pitches are not intented to be accurate. Aim is to show apporximate vocal flow.
.#
+ . . * 1 . . . . 1 .#
was diff - rent. I aint' ne -
. 1.
ver seen
Sure
Bk. Vox
$ %3% % )
3
) . .
Napoleon Murphy Brock Whose
py
.. .
thon
! Mar. "!
E. Gtr
boot
++ * ) . . 1 .2 .
is that?
3% % % % $
ff
%%% $
%%% $ $
$ $ $ ( 7
V.S.
! $
Conduct band.
Bass
, " % % % % % % % %3% %
ff
6 3
3% % 4%3% % 5% %
3
Drums
6 6 6 6 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % % % % % % % % 6 %
7 7 5
8
31
Ld. Vox
" & * " &
& &
like
( & & '&

that in
&&
my
( & &
en - tire
no - thin'
Bk. Vox
Frank Zappa Why don't
Mar.
! ""
$ % %
33
& & & , & & - .

you That shar
aint' -
( , &/ &/& ' &/ , ) & ! '& & & , & & , ) ! . my pen it shi... then? WHA?
&( ) * ) ! !
life.
+ #
! ! ! !
( 0 2 ' 2 0 . ) ! !
# ' # # # 5 / ( / , & & '& & , '&

ball. I could.
! !
'
E. Gtr
" '
'
! ! '
10 &
30 2& 2& 0
'
0& 0&
'
0 2 2 0
! !
) ! !
Bass
! 10 & ! ! + ! ! && ! 0&

ff
Perc.
* && && 0& 0& 0&
China cymbal , 4 - ) ! !
Drums
& 0 *
! !
Ld. Vox
& & " ! ! ) ,& - & " ! ! *

Lit - tle round
& & ') + )

n't.
( ) & & & ' & & & & & '& &
That - a white
Bk. Vox
Mar.
Piano
! ""
, ' ( '& &

Je -
( & )
Could
he
zus!
! !
# # ' ' # # '
$ 0 00 %0 *
Uerhhh..
& .
Heee!
&( ) * + + ' + +
cain't
* & .
Ah
do
no - thin'.
$ ! ! " ! ! ' $ ! !
ff
0 0 ' 0
0,* 0 2 ' 2 ,* 0
E. Gtr
'
Bass
Drums
! % !
0 0 00*
9
35
Ld. Vox
# # ' # # %
36
$ ' '
Ma
! "
'
Jo
Bk. Vox
' # +
-
'
'
ry
'
and
'
zuf!
* #
! " ! "
+ + +
Mo - ther
E. Gtr
Drums
' +
, +
, +
! "
Ld. Vox
Mar.
! "#
! + # "
Did
+
a
+
ve -
+
hi -
+
cle.
" "
6
Bass
" " + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + , , , , , ff & ! " + + + " + " +

6 6 6 6
! "
Drums
' ! % " +
37
' +
' +
' +
' +
" "
Ld. Vox
# " " # " "
+ + + + +
Did a ve - hi - cle.
+ + + + + +
Did a ve - hi - cle.
. . ) 1 0 + + 2 .
Bk. Vox
! Mar. "#
$ + + .
mf
. .
3
E. Gtr
" /+ + # " +
ff
" " + + .
f
2 + + +
+ $$$ + 4 + 4 4 3
) 1 . + + + + + + + 5 5 5
ff cle.
0 /+ + + +
Bass
& " + + . "

f
+ + .
Drums
' ' " ' ' ' % " +$ ' ' + + + +$ +$ .$ 3

f
) +1 + + + + + + . 6 6 ' + + + +
+ + .
' ' ' 6 6 ' ' + ' ' + $ ' + + +$ + .$ + +$ + + 3
) +1 +0 2
V.S.
39
Ld. Vox
! Mar. "!
! %
Fly
% %$
a -
%$
long
&% '
the
%
moun -
) (
tains
10
% * * * + , . % % + , . % % f
%
and
mf
% %
% %
* *
Bass
" % % * #
+ , * % % % % % % % + , % % % * % % % %
ff
% %
* *
% % *
% % *
Drums
%
Ld. Vox
/ / / 1 1 / / % %$ %$ % % / % % %$ / / % % $ * 0
/ / / / / % %$ %$ %$ / / % % $ * 0
1 1 / % % % %
41
Mar.
! "!
&%
find
%
a
2%
place
&%
to
% 2% *
park it -
% '
mf
( % % * * *
3 + , . % % + %, %. * *
self.
% %
% %
* *
Bass
" % % * #
+ , * % % % % % % % + %, % % % % % % * 1 1 / % % % % / / / %$
% % *
% % *
Drums
%
Ld. Vox
/ / / % / / / / %$ %$ % *$ % %$ 0
/ / / / %$ 1 % / % % % *$ % %$ % * % ' 0
43
! Mar. "!
#!
3 3 3 %% % * +% %% %* +% %% %* % %% % $$ * 5%
&% % * * &% % 2% % % ' ' ' '

Park it se e - elf.
* 3
4 3
ff
$ 4 $ 3 4
%& % % % % % % % % % % % %
3
ff
Piano
$
3
&% % % %* 3
ff
$ % %%%) %% %% %) %%) %%) %3 ) ) ) ) ) ) % % % % %% %% % % % %%%3

3 3 3 3
Bass
" *
ff
%%
3
* +
3
%%
* +
3
%%
Drums
ff
/1 / 1 / 1 %% %% %% *'**' * *' *
3 3 3
/ 1 / %% *' * %
3
%% -$
3
46
Ld. Vox
!
Gruffly
"
& ')( ( *
Or
(
did
( (
(#
(#
build
11
)( (
a
(
place
(# "
, +(
to
some - one
Bk. Vox
Mar.
! "!
! )( , & & ( , ( (
Park it. Park it.
"
ff
"
f
((
&
((
Bass
# )( (, & & ( (, ( ( & ( ( & & ' ( ((( ( ((& ( (& $ / ( ( ( / / 1 1 & / (, / / / ( / / ( # /(( (# ( ( & ( ( 0 ( # ( &# ( *
mf f
& & ' & & ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ((
& ' - , & (( . & ' (- (, & .

((
Drums
$
Ld. Vox
/ / / / ( (# ( &
( 0
/ ( ( (((( ( % ((
49
Mar.
! "!
! )( #
leave
2(
a
2(
space,
( & & ( * / (# (# ' ' ( ( (
% ( ( 1 / ( ( ( ( ( ( 1 ( ( (
( ( /
& & / (
( ( / (# &
( ( /
& & /
Bass
# ( $ / (#
Drums
$
Ld. Vox
50
Mar.
! "!
! % ( ( &
(# ' 0
for
(
such
(
a
)( (
thing
+( ( 23 #
to land.
% & ( ( & 4 & ' (- (, . &
( (
&
&
Bass
# ( ( ' +( ( ( ( ( ( * ( ( $ / / / / / ( / / (# ( &# ( (# (# *
' - , ( ( . )(
& 2(
( (
( ( &
( ( &
Drums
1 1 / ( ( ( (
/ / / / 1 1 / / ( / / ( # / ( ( (# ( &# ( (# ( ( *
V.S.
52
Flute
Mar.
! "! ! "!
" " $
&% % % % % % % % % % &% ' % % % % % % % % % % &% ## ( &% % ## % % % % % % % % &% ' % % % % % % % % % &% % ( f & % % % % % % % % % % & % &% ' % % % % % % ## % % % % ( ## ) ## ## ) %
f mf f
12
## ## ## ## ## ##
Synth 1
Bass
% ' &% * +
f
) #
% ' % * +
) .
% ' &% * +
) ' , - ) % %
ff
Timpani
Drums
%
Flute
' , % % /
) %
' , % % /
) %
' , % % /
) ' , % %
ff
) ' %, % % /
ff
59
Mar.
! "! !
!
&% % % % % % % % % % & % % % % % % % % ## &% % ## % % % % % % % % & % % % % % % % % &% % % % % % % % % % & % % % % % % % % ## ## % 0 % , ' % % % 0 % , ' % % % 0 %
&%
' % % % (
## ## ## $ / ' , - ) % %
ff
&% ' % % % ( &% ' % % % ( , ' % % . % % % ) ) ) ' %, % / ) %
Synth 1
Synth 2
"!
! " " $
E. Gtr
## % % ' %, % ## ) ##
f ff
glide f
## ## ## ## ##
, % % ' % % ) ) # % ' % * + )
, % % ' % % ) . % ' &% * +
Bass
% ' &% * +
Timpani
Drums
## ) %
f
' %, % /
) %
' %, % /
' , % %
ff
) %
' , % % /
ff
13
Piano
!!
63
"" ""
Rhodes improvises switching between implied C + D root every bar using jazz chords.
E. Gtr
! " #
Guitar solo in C Lydian
Bass
"" % "
mf
Gtr Solo: 4 Bar Vamp between C + D, notation as a guide. Improvised to support guitar solo.
& % ) % '
% ) % (
% )
% ) %
% * % %
% ' ) (
% * % )
& % ) % '
& % * % +
% )
% ' * % % % % (
Drums
) "" %
mf
) (
#
65
Bass
" %" # * % ) ) (
& % ) % '
% ) % (
% )
% ) %
% * % %
% ' ) (
% * % )
& % ) % '
& % * % +
% )
% '
x 19 (on recording)
"" ""
Drums
* % % % % (
#
139
Ld. Vox
! ! " %" #
$ $ & % % % % % % % '
$ $ % & %& % % ' %

mf
$ $ % % %
, ,
-% % %
Ah ah ah
E. Gtr
-% % %
ff ff
3
Final 2 Bars cued by Guitarist's signal.
Bass
% -% % % % -% % % %
f
3 3
Drums
) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ( ) ) ) % % % % % % % % % % %%% % % % ( % ) ) % ) % ) % ) ) ' ( % % ( % % ' + %%( %

mf ff
3
V.S.
14
143
Ld. Vox
! &% # ! &% #
ah
% % '
ah
E. Gtr
% % ' %# % . ) % % % , *
'# '# %
ah
% % %
%#
ah
%#
ah
) % ( ( % *
'
ah
' ' % / -
Bass
" +' #
146
% % % % % % * , % , % * % % % % % % % % %
6
ah ah
) % , % % % , % *
Drums
- - % , % *
- % - - % % . . %
ah
Ld. Vox
Vibes
! "!
!
! 0 $ 0
&% &%
f
ah
%
ah
% %
%
6
ah
&% % % ' &% % % ' &% % % ' %# % % % *

ah ah
ah
% % % % % % % %
ah
E. Gtr
Bass
% %# " * #
&% % % %#
Drums
1 1 1 -# - - % % % %% % % %% % % % % % . / , % * .
% % *
% &%
-) ) % , %
% % % /
15
149
Ld. Vox
! !
ah
%$
ah
' % & (
ah
) " ) "
*% % % % % %
sim.
Bk. Vox
! Vibes "! ! "!
"
% % *% % % %
sim.
%$
' % & ( " ' % & (
ah's
ff
"
Synth 1
% % *% % % % *% % % % % %
6
E. Gtr
! %$
) ,
Bass
# %' + % % ( $ . . . . . . % % % + % - , + % -
& %
& % -
' % + + %' % $ . . . % + % - ,
' *% . % + % -
Drums
6 6 . . . % % %%%%%%%%%%%% % + /% - /% - 0
%
152
Ld. Vox
! *% % % (
% %
%$ *% $
' % & ( & ( % & ( % & ( % ' % %$ . % ,
) ) ) % ' % %
Bk. Vox
Synth 1
! "!
!
% %%( % %%( *% % % ( % *%
% % *% $ % % % %$
% % ( ###################
fff
E. Gtr
Bass
# % *% $ . % %
1% $
% -
%$
Drums
. . . . % % % % + % - + % -
. . . . . % % + % - ,
. . . . .' / . / % % % %% % , - + % - + % - + %
3 3
V.S.
16
155
Ld. Vox
! &% % % % % % &% % % ' ! % % &% % % %

6
% % %# % % %# % % %# % % %#
Bk. Vox
Synth 1
! "!
!
% %%' % %%'
) % ( ' ( ' % + ( ' % + ) % ( ' ) % %# % +
* * * * % % % + - . &% +
% % &% % % %
f
6
E. Gtr
&% % % % % % &% % % '

ff
6
Bass
" ' # . %
%#
) &% %
% % % % % &% ,% #
Drums
/ / / % - % + .
/ / / / ) / / / / / / / / % / / / / % % % / % % % % % % % % % % % % - % % % % % - + % . . + + +
$
J
159
Flute
Mar.
! "! ! "!
! " " #
&% % % % % % % % % % % % % &% ## % % % % &% % ## % % % % % % % % & % % % % % % % % f &% % ## % % % % % % % % & % % % % % % % % f ## $ % 0 &% 3 + $ 0 2 % % . % 0 2 % % . % 0 % 3 + 1 1 %

f
&% 0 % % % ' &% 0 % % % ' &% 0 % % % ' - 0 2. %

f
## ## ## ## ## ## ##
Synth 1
E. Gtr
Bass
## ##
f
% 0 &% 3 +
- 0 2 ) % %
ff
Timpani
- 0 2 % %
ff
Drums
## %
f
0 2 % % .
- 0 %2 % % .
ff
161
Flute
Mar.
! "! ! "!
&% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % &% ' &% ( ' % % % ) ! &% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % &% &% ' % % % ) &% ' % % % )
17
Synth 1
&% % ! % % % % % % % % % % & % % % % % %
Synth 2
* ' ' %* % + % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % ' %* % + + # + %

f
E. Gtr
* ! % % ' % %
ff
% % ' %* % + + / % ' &% ( -
% % %# + + +
Bass
" +
f
% ' &% ( -
% ' % ( -
, ' * . % %
ff
Timpani
" $ ' %* % 0
Drums
+ %
' %* % 0
+ %
' %* % 0
' * % %
ff
+ %
' * % % 0
ff
V.S.
163
Flute
Mar.
! "! ! "!
&% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % &% ! &% % % % % % % % % % & % % % % % % % %
18
&% ' % % % ( &% ' % % % ( &% ' % % % ( * +
Synth 1
&% % ! % % % % % % % % % % & % % % % % %
Synth 2
) % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % ' %, % * * # * %
f
E. Gtr
, ! % % ' % % " *
f
% % ' %, % * * 0 % ' &% . /
% % %# * * *
%
ff
Bass
% ' &% . /
% ' % . /
' , ) * % % ' , ) * % %
ff
Timpani
" $ ' %, % +
Drums
* %
' %, % +
* %
' %, % +
* %
' , % % +
ff
$
165
Ld. Vox
! " " * ' , % %# $ * ' %, % # 0
# #
Did
% %% % % % % 1 %#
a ve - hi - cle come
Bass
%#
from
some - where
%
out
%#
there.
% % %% % %
Did
a ve - hi - cle.
% 1
%#
Timpani
' , %% ' , ) 0 % %#
# %% %
mf
Drums
- 2# +
- % '
* %
-) %
, '
19
167
Ld. Vox
&
Come,
+ . / / / / 0 / / / / . / / / / 0 / / / / + ( , . 2 1 1 . / / / / 0 / / / /
!! !" !! !" !! !"

. 2 1 1
E. Gtr
& ' * ' ) /
, , -
Bass
Timpani
Drums
. 12 1
. 12 14$
!! !" !! 1 1 !"
169
Ld. Vox
! Mar. "&
Piano
!! & !" . 1 !! !"
from
some - where
1
out
there.
51 1 1 1 1 51 1 1 1 51 1 1 " # 1 1 1 1
Did the In - di - ans,
$ %
1 1
ff
( . -
" 3$ # " #
first
on
the
bill,
carve
up
the
hill.
( 1 1 1 1$ /$ 1$
$ % $ % $ % $ %
!! + # & !" +
Bass
' !! 1 $ !" /4 !! ) !" 1 6 . . /4 -
1 . 12 1 1 " 1 $ # 0 . / . 1 / 1 . " /$ . # 1 6$
5 1 51 1 1 /$ 1$
Drums
V.S.
20
171
Flute
! Mar. ")
Piano
! ) "
" "
ff
- 3
# "
" " " " " " " " " "
! Synth 1 ")
Bass
/-/- - - - /- $$ . ! " . / $ - /- " - - - - - - . . #) " 3
/-/- - - - /- $ --- - - . ! " /- $ --- - . " " /- -
# . " . # .. . " . # "

2 - 4 .
! "
/-/- - - - /- " /- /- - " f ff

f ff
- - - .
3
+ ! "
ff
0*
1-
" 1" " 3 " f
- 3
$ - -
# " .
Drums
! , "
5 3 -- - - - 4
# - - - -- -- " - " - - " 4
174 ! Mar. ")
Synth 1
! ")
" " " "
! & --- - $ ---- 5 % - -% - - - - - '( ---- -- f ! & --- - $ - -% % '( 5 ------- - --- - ----- -f
7 5 8 f
Bass
+ " 6 "
- $ - --- --- --- ! 9 % - % - -$
& '(
Drums
8 - --3 - 3- $ 3 - - -" 7 7 , " - - - - 7 % -$ - 7 8 4 82 7 7

f
! 3 3 -- & % '( 2 8 - - 7
21
177
Flute
Mar.
! "' ! "'
! + ' "#
ff
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + $ %
! &
! "# ! "#
+ +
$ + ! -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + % + + + + + + ,+ .+ ,+ + .+ . + & $ + ! -+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + % + + + + + + ,+ .+ ,+ + .+ . + &
0 + + / 1 + 0 +2 +3 / + 0 +2 +3 /
Synth 1
Bass
) ! + "# / 5 ! + * "# +
$ + + %
+ + + +
+ + ! &
Drums
5 5 5 5 5 0 + 5 + + + + + + 5 + + + + + + + + + $ % + 4 + + 4 + + + + + + + 0 + + 6 4 0 #
! + + &
181
Flute
Mar.
! "' ! "'
! ' & -+
ff
+ -+ + -+ + -+ ,+
+ ,+ + ,+ + ,+
.+
.+
,+
-+ ,+ .+ + -+ -+ ,+ .+ + -+ -+ ,+ .+ + -+ -+ + + + + 5 +
# & # & # & # & # &
! & ! &
-+ -+
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ + +
.+ .+
.+ .+
,+ ,+
Synth 1
Bass
) ! + -+ # &
Drums
! 5 * & +
5 + 6
5 +
5 + 6
V.S.
! Synth 1 "&
Bass
182 ! Mar. "&
22
! "
,* * # + * * + * * * +* * * , * * * * * +* * +* * * * * ! * "
ff
6 6 6 3
'
## #! ## #!
* * 0 2 .*
( ! * "
*
3
*
3 3 3
* / /
3 3
## +* #! ## #!
3 ## 3 * 4 #!
Perc.
! / / ) "
fff
/ / / / /
/ / / / /
Drums
! ) " 1#
/# / / / 0 / 0 0
183
Flute
! Mar. "&
Synth 1
## & #! ## #!
'
'
2#
. *. * * * .*.* * * * 4 $ % 3 35 #! "
f
.*.* * * . * $ *** * * * * * * * .* ,*+* * * * * 4 #! * * * * * * * * ** * *** f .* .*.* * ! ## * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . * ,*+* * * * * * 4 $ * * #! "& #!

f
% " % " % "
Bass
( ## * ** #! **
f
* *3 6 ** 5 5 * *
* * 3 *6 * * * * * *7 $ * #! 5 5
.* * *
Drums
/ */ * * / ** * /7 / / * * // /* / * / * // 3 * ## * ) #! * * 3 * 3 * 3 * * 3 * * * 4 4 4 3* 4 3 * * ** 0
f
/ $ * / / % #! 3 * * * " 4 0
23
187
Flute
! Mar. "'
Piano
! ' "
, + + + + + + + # + " " "

3 3
$ %& $ %& $ %& $ %& $ %& $ %&
! Synth 1 "'
Bass
-+ -+ + + + + -+ ! # + -+ + + + " + + ++ + + ++ ++ ++ ++ + " , " " , + ff

3 3 3
! ' "
) ! "
( ( -+ -+ + + + + -+ + -+ + +
ff
3 # + + + + ++ + " , , " + + + + ++ + + " , + + + + ++ + +
# "
fff
(
3
" , "
! "
) ! "
.+
ff
/+ -+
3 # + + + + ++ + " , " + " +
.+ /+ 1
# + + + " # " + + + +
3 3
++ + + " , "
3
Drums
! 0 * " +
ff
$ ++ + + " ++ +++ + + + + + %& " + 1 1 2+ 21 3 3
%
190 ! Mar. "'
! Synth 1 "'
Bass
$ %& +
ff
+ + +$
+ + .+ +
+ /+
/+ .+ +++
+ + +$
+ /+ + + $
+ + .+ + + . + + + + /+ /+ + + . + + . + + +.+ + + $ +++++++ + /+ + /+ + + /+ %&

f
) $ + %&
f
+++++ +
+++
+ +
+++
+ +
+ 2 4 5
+ + + + +$
Drums
$ 6 6 + * %& + + + + 25
f
66 66+66 6666+66 6666 +66 6666+66 + + + +5 2+ + +5 2+ + +5 2+ + +5 2+ 4 4 4 4 4
V.S.
! Synth 1 ""
Bass
195 ! Mar. ""
%%
% %
% % %#
&%
% %&% #
% &% % &% #
&% &% &% %
' (% %
24
% % & % ( % % % % (% % % &% % % (%&% % % &% % & % % &% %&% % % &% % &% %&%)% &% %&% %%%% % % %% % * % '+ % %)% %&% (% %% (% # &% &% %&% % ,
# % $
Drums
-- --%- - -- --%- - -- - - %-- ---- %-- - --- %-% %* . % % %* .% % % * .% % %* .% % %* .% / / / / /
! Synth 1 ""
Bass
200 ! Mar. ""
% % (% #
&%
)% % % %(% % ( % % % % (% % &% % % &%(% % % (% % %) % (% % &% % % (% )%&% )% % (%) % % . % )% (% )% % % % / . )% % % %# % 0 % % % , % % % %#
% % %#
)% (% % &%& % ( % % )% (% ) % % % % (% % %) % % )%
# % $
Drums
- - - - %- - - - - - %- - - - - - %- - - - - - %- - - - - - %- % %* .% % %* .% % %* .% % % * .% % %* .% / / / / /
! Synth 1 ""
Bass
205 ! Mar. ""
% % % % &% % (% ! ! % % , )% ,
% % &% % (% ! ! %# %#
% % $
ff
% $
% $
% 1# % 1# 2 % %
%%
# % $
! ! %#
Drums
- - - - % % % ! 2 ! %# % % 2
% 2
% % 2
207 ! Mar. "#
25
Synth 1
! "#
&# &# (# &#
& & & ) &
& $ $ '# '# ( & +, &
& $ $
& $ $
! " ! " ! "
Bass
$ &# %
Drums
& *
&
&
&
&
& &
&
& &
&
&
! "
208 ! Mar. "#
E. Gtr
& & & & /& & ! & & & & -& -& & & .& .& & &.& & & & & & /& /&-& & & & & &.& & & & # # "
mp f
P ! & & & & & & -& # "
& & . & & & &# &
& & & & , ( .& & & .& / & & /&
3
Bass
& & & & &-& # & $ ! "

f
&&& & . & &# & + & 0 )& +,
Drums
+# ! % " & 0
mf f
/& + & 0
/& & & & & & - & & )& +, & ( && & 1 0
)&
& & 1
+ + & 0
+ + + && & 1 0
V.S.
26
211
Flute
! Mar. "#
# &
Piano
E. Gtr
ff
% % &
& &$ ) && $$ & * &
& &$
3
&
(& & & & & & & & & ) & & $$ && & &$ &$ & (& $
&$ & & &$ & & &
'$ & &
&
! "
& ! "
# )
ff
$ &
&& &$ & & && + & & & * & &$ & & . -& &
'$ '$ '$ '$ / & )

6
! " ! " ! " ! "

& && && ! & " '
# &
Bass
$ ,$ / &
Drums
/ / &$
/ && '
/ )
/ & / &$ & '
27
213
Flute
! Mar. "'
' ! " + ,-$ ! / " -
-$ -$ - $$ -$ , 2 -$
3
- # .$ " -, # " -
-$ $$ - $$ ) -$ -$ -
$ "
- $ "
Piano
E. Gtr
' ! " + ,0 0 ( ! + ,1 " 0 ' ! " + ,-
# . . $$$$ - " . .
$ " $ " $ " $ "
# "
- # .$ "
Bass
( ! + , 3- - - - 2 " $ * ! " +$ 5 5 - / 4 5 3
# 3. $ "
5 -
Drums
%
Piano
# 5 5 5 " -$
ff
-$ - - - - - - - - - - - -$ - - - - - - - - - - - $ " 6 6
$ #' "
215
q = 192 approx.
Solo starting with Rhodes, progressing to Synthesisers.
Bass
( $ 7. "
ff
8- $
% " % . "
& " & 3- $ "

-$
% 6 " % " .
$ " $ "
3- $
Drums
%
Bass
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 59 5 59 % 5 5 5 5 & 5 5 5 5 5 5 % 5 $ $ * " - -$ - - - - - -$ - - - - " - - " - - - - " ----- " 2 1 1 1 1

ff
220
( *
$$ $ " -
Bass + Drums Improvise under Keyboard solo around following riffs.
Drums
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 $$ $ " - - - - -$ 1
9 - - 3- - - $
9 - - 3- - - $
9 - - 3- - - $
9 - - 3- - - $
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 -$ 1 - -$
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 - -$
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 - 2 1 - -$
V.S.
28
224
Bass
! "
$#
& ! %# # # # '#
$#
& ! %# # # # '#
(# $# # # # # # $# # # # # # # !! %#
x7
"
Drums
* * # * * * * * #! ) # + # #! # & # # %# # # !
* * # * * * * * # + # ) # + # #! # & # # %# # # !
* * # * * * * * #! ) # + # #! # & # # %# # # !
* * # * * * * * ! ! # + # ) # + # #! # & # # %# # # !
276
Bass
! "
Drums
* * # * * * * * #! ) # + # #!
* * # * * * * * # # ) # + + # #!
* * # * * * * * #! ) # + # #!
* * # * * * * * # # ) # + + # #!
280 ! Mar. ""
29
R q = 96 approx.
ff
$ $ $ $ %$ $ $ %$ $ $ $ $ $ $
$ $ $ %$ $ $ $ % $ $ $ & $ &$ $ $
Drums
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
ff
281 ! Mar. ""
$ $ %$ $ &$ &$ $ & $ $ $ $ % $ $ %$
&$ $ $ $ &$ $ $ $ $ %$ $ %$ $ $
Drums
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
282 ! Mar. ""
$ &$ %$ $ $ %$ $ &$ $ $ $ &$ $ &$ $ $ $ $ $ ' $ %$ $ %$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
Drums
283 ! Mar. ""
'$ $ $ &$ &$ $ $ $ %$ %$ &$ $ '$ $ '$ &$ $ $ $ %$ $ & $ $ & $ &$ '$ &$ &$
! !
Drums
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ ! $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ !
V.S.
284 ! Mar. "(
30
! !
Piano
! # ( ! 1++ $$ ++ ++ $$
f
ff
+$ + + + + + +
- ./ + + , + + +$ + + ++ 0 - ./ + + , + +$ + + +
+$ + + +
+ + $$ + ++ + $$ + +0 $ ++ + + + $$ + ++ +
+ + +-
./
E. Gtr
( ! ! 1+ $ ++ + + $$ + ++ +
f f
Bass
) ! ! +$ + 2$ * ! ! 0 3$ 3 3 ! * ! +$ + +
ff
+$ + 2$ 0 3$ 3 3 +$ + +
+$ + + +
+ + +-
./
Perc.
ff
3 333 3$ 3 3 0 0
3$ 3 3 33 3 3 0 0
Drums
%
Ld. Vox
286
S q = 104 approx.
(
f
Did
+
a
boo
+ +
- ger
+ +
- bear
+ +
come
+ +
+
from
+ + 3 .
+ + . +$
+
out
+
there.
+
Just
+
to
+
land
+
in
+
the
" # " # " #
some - where
Bk. Vox
( +
f
Comic Voice
+
a
+
from
+
out
+
there.
+
Just
+
to
+
land
+
in
+
the
Did
boo
- ger
- bear
come
some - where
Drums
%
Ld. Vox
*
f
3 +
3 +
+ +
3 +
+$
3 + +
. .
3 +
+ +
287
( " # + ( " #
An
+ +
- des? Was
Bk. Vox
+ + . 3 . + 4
she round
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 3 + + . +
and did she have and did she have a mo - tor, or
$ #
Drums
35 " * # + 4
An
+ + + + + + was she some - thing diff - erent. + + + + $ # + +
%& %' %& %' %& %'
- des? Was
she round
3 3 + +
mo - tor,
or
3 +
$ 3 # +$
was
she
some - thing
diff - erent.
+ +
31
289
Ld. Vox
!" ' !#
Bk. Vox
!" * ' !# !" * ( !# *

ff 290
Gua
*
ca
- mo
* *
*
le
Queen.
* *
Gua
* *
*
ca
*
le
- mo
* *
*
le
Queen.
* *
Qua
* *
*
ca
*
le
- mo
* *
*
le
Queen.
* *
$ % $ % $ %
*
le
Gua
ca
- mo
Queen.
Drums
+ * * ,
Gua
ca
- mo
Queen.
* * *
-
+ * * ,
Qua
ca
- mo
Queen.
* *
+ * * ,
Ld. Vox
$ ' %
At
the
* *
Arm
* *
*
-
*
dill
Bk. Vox
' $ % * 0 ( $ % *#
f 291
At
*
a
*
o o
*
in
-* -* 0 *
Aus -
.* .*
tin tin
/* /* 0 *
Tex -
-* -* * 2
as,
*
here
/* /*
au au -
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INCA ROADS - THE MUSICAL WORLDS OF FRANK ZAPPA Benjamin Wall
ABSTRACT This thesis seeks to explore the many inuences and development of Frank Zappas compositional style through his career, up to and including the release of Inca Roads from the album One Size Fits All. Zappas work is divided into to key stylistic periods dependant on the band he had at his disposal at any one time. Major shifts in style occurred with each of these periods and the inuencing factors for both the catalyst of the shifts and the musical development and inuences are examined chronologically, using key albums as reference points within each stylistic period. The latter half of the thesis is a detailed analysis of the track Inca Roads, given context by the preceding investigation into Zappas stylistic shifts up to that point in his career, and is conducted under the following headings; meanings in the title Inca Roads; lyrical form; humour and self-referentiality; transformation; polyrhythms and rhythmic confusion; challenging virtuosity; similarity to progressive rock and classical inuence; improvisation; and structure. The aim is to investigate the development of Zappas compositional style at that point in his career, using Inca Roads to illustrate the conuence of a variety of inuences To undertake the analysis, and contribute to the lack of available scores of Zappas work, a full transcription of Inca Roads was undertaken to create a detailed study score which includes full parts for; lead vocals; backing vocals; ute; marimba; vibraphone; electric guitar; two synthesizers; Rhodes piano; bass guitar; timpani; percussion; and drum kit. This full score is included in the appendix to the thesis.

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INCA ROADS - THE MUSICAL WORLDS OF FRANK ZAPPA

MA by Research Awarded by The University of Hudderseld

Resubmission August 2011

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa

Piston, Walter, Harmony, (New York, 1941).

The Mothers Of Invention

The Mothers Of Invention, Freak Out!, Rykodisc 10501 (1967).

March 23rd to September 5th 1967.

ibid., cover art.

Deep Purple, Smoke on the Water, Machine Head, (1972).

Following The Grand Wazoo tour, Zappa also commented,

Smith, Jim, Kicks in the Ear, NME, (January 26, 1974).

Frank Zappa, Cosmik Debris, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974).

Dire Straits, Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits, Vertigo (1978).

Frank Zappa, Cosmik Debris, Apostrophe (), Rykodisc 10519 (1974).

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa

Poodles also form a part of what Zappa termed Conceptual Continuity.

118 119 120

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa

Zappa, Frank, Album promo, Apostrophe (), http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=iRbn3ZZx0Mg (1974). 27

125 126 127

128 129 130 131

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa

With the introduction of the Over-Nite

In turn of Zappa, Ruth Underwood has said,

Kloet, Co de, Society Pages, 10, Happy Together: Part Two.

Ruth Underwood interviewed in Musician, Frank Zappa 1940-1993, (February, 1994).

Mead, David, Guitarist, The Guitarist Interview, June 1994. 34

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Figure 1

177 178 179 180

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Figure 2

The Mothers, Filmore East - June 1971, Rykodisc 10512 (1971). 44

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa

Zappa, Frank, dir., The Dub Room Special, (1982). http://www.arf.ru/About/index.html. 45

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Figure 3

* # # # ! # # " % , # Why don't

That aint' you shar -

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% Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa

Spoken word. Pitches are not intented t

Napoleon Murphy Brock Whose

Zappa, Frank, dir., The Dub Room Special, (1982). 48

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Figure 5

* The Black Page, Keyboard, (February, 1987).

NOT DIFFICULT (6ths) 4 3 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

WHAT ATROCIOUS WEATHER (12ths)

DRINK UP YOUR BEER COME ON PLEASE (15ths) 50

Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa 7X 6X X X X X X X X X X X X

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the moun tains f ff

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Inca Roads - The Musical Worlds of Frank Zappa Figure 7

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